The Butterfly Effect
by Temptress101
Summary: 'Some girls are like butterflies. Beautiful to see, but extremely hard to catch.' - Nick Russell, The Mystic Pheonix and the leader of The Mystic Power Rangers, will soon learn the true meaning of the saying. He will be needing some extra help in order to catch the attention of the pink butterfly. After all, without help, could you really catch 'The Wind?


Hello, everyone! My name is Temptress101 and this is my first PRMF fanfic, so I hope you'll like it or not hate it too much.

Before you begin, I would like to clarify, explain and point out a few **VERY** important things to you.

**Firstly, all fans of PRMF know that the colors of the rangers' uniform are based on the natural elements.

Nick Russell/Bowen - Red - _Fire_

Vida Rocca - Pink - _Air (Wind)_

Xander Bly - Green - _Earth_

Madison Rocca - Blue - _Water_

Chip Thorn - Yellow - _Lightning_

So, I was thinking that maybe their personalities have something to do with the elements they control as well (I assume that that's how they got their powers to begin with).

-Nick is just like Fire; he's brave, fierce, very loyal, passionate, daring, impulsive, headstrong, caring, heroic and stubborn, follows his heart and his 'gut' instinct. He's the leader of the group and thus, he's 'The Heart' of the team.

-Xander is like the Earth; he's stable, firm, easy-going, relaxed, vain, proud, a little egocentric, kind, peaceful, always ready to take charge and be the one to ground the others. He follows both his heart and mind, so he will **try** to make the best decision in every situation. However, he is the first one to jump in front of all oncoming attacks in order to protect the others and walk away unharmed (somewhat). Because of all this, Xander's 'The Brawn' of the team.

-Madison is like Water; she's calm, cool and tranquil and a very good listener. She's soft-spoken and follows her heart. She also acts as the mediator in the team, trying to keep things in control and usually is the first one to stop an argument (i.e. Nick and Vida's fights) before it went too far. She's the glue that keeps everything together. Being the peacemaker that she is, she's 'The Soul' of the team.

-Chip is just like Lightning; he's always buzzing with energy and always has a lot of ideas for just about anything. He's noble, kind, never gives up, fast on his feet and a good friend to all. Which is why Chip's 'The Energy' that keeps the whole team going.

And as for Vida...well, in my opinion, Vida should be 'The Brains' of the team.

Not only because it's the only thing left for her to fill in, but also because the element of Air is the element meant for those who follow logic and have great intellectual power and skill.

I noticed that Vida is usually the one who figures things out, somehow. So, in this fic, she will be a force to be reckoned with.

She will still be the firm, outgoing, stubborn, brave, loyal, kind, loving, fiercely overprotective and badass Vida we all know and love. It's just that she will be so in a different way.

For starters, she won't be a tomboy nor an overly girly girl. She _will_ be girly, just not the _extreme_ kind of girly.

Vida will be the perfect image of an independent, sharp, clever, observant, smart, down to earth, graceful young lady **and** a very powerful warrior. She will, also, still very much dislike pink, but for entirely different reasons.

She will be 'The Brains' of the team and 'The Wind' in the full meaning of the word.

Her intellect and observation skills will rival BBC's Sherlock Holmes and his crazy sister's (only Vida won't be a crazy sociopath or doing drugs).

And since I adore watching and rewatching 'Cruel Intentions' from time to time, my version of Vida will look like Kathryn Merteuil (i.e. like how Sarah Michelle Gellar looked like as Kathryn in the movie) physically.

I apologize to those who like Angie Diaz. I have absolutely nothing against the woman, she's a very good actress, but I would like to remind you that this is FANFICTION after all.

So, I can do whatever I want with the characters here on this site as long as I follow the rules of the said site.

-Now, back to the personalities ordeal from above.

I've done a lot of research about the horoscope signs and how the elements represent them, so I wanted to apply those characteristics to the rangers as well.

I won't change too many things, just a few things that will make it feel real and authentic. There will be no cheap explosions or weak fights. I will make everything look and feel real.

Which means, that there will be real life-threatening injuries and a lot of other things as well.

**Secondly, since I'm not really sure whether Briarwood is a made up city or the creators of PRMF used the city of Briarwood that is in North Dakota (it's pretty obvious that Briarwood isn't the same Briarwood in New York, which is a small neighborhood), USA or the Briarwood in Australia, seeing how the actors were Australian (those that I know of, that is).

(I actually looked up Briarwood on Google just to check. So, I'm not entirely sure about the Australia part.)

So, I'll be placing the story plot in the USA. Just so that there wouldn't be any confusion while you're reading this.

The time of the story plot will be placed in the beginning of summer, 2017.

There will be a few more additional changes, but you'll have to read the fic to find out what they are.

Also, in advance, I apologize for any kind of mistake you might find here. English is not my native language.

P.S. This fanfic's rated M. Meaning, there will be certain situations and/or scenes that won't be PG 13.

Tags:

\- Friends to Lovers

\- Young Love

\- Unrequited Love

\- Team Bonding

\- Team as Family

\- Family Values

\- Family Fluff

\- Sisterly Bond

\- Sisterly Connection

\- Heart Connection

\- History of the Mystic Titans

\- Older Man/Younger Woman

\- Older Woman/Younger Man

\- Madison Rocca Is The Ultimate Matchmaker & Wingwoman

\- Wingman Nick Russell

\- Forbidden Love Is Forbidden Fruit

\- Falling In Love

\- Idiots In Love

\- Love Is A Messy Thing

\- Love At First Sight

\- Love Confessions

\- Good vs Evil

\- Nick And Madison Help Each Other Get Their Loves

\- Brother/Sister Relationship Nick/Madison (Not The Perverted Kind!)

\- Unresolved Romantic Tension

\- Unresolved Sexual Tension

\- Sexual Tension

\- Ancient Magic

\- Fairytale Curses

\- Fairytale Monsters

\- Real Life Situations

-Awkward Sexual Situations

\- BAMF Vida Rocca

Adventure/Action/Romance/Drama/Humor/Supernatural

Zodiac Signs:

Nick Russell - Aries (Mars)

Vida Rocca - Libra (Venus)

Xander Bly - Taurus (Venus)

Madison Rocca - Cancer (Moon)

Chip Thorn - Leo (Sun)

Daggeron - Capricorn (Saturn)

Now, without further ado...I present to you, my wonderful readers, 'The Butterfly Effect'!

 **DISCLAIMER** : I OWN NOTHING, BUT THE OCS AND PART OF THE STORY PLOT!

-THIS FIC WILL BE A NICK/VIDA AND DAGGERON/MADISON FIC! DON'T LIKE THE COUPLE, THEN DON'T READ!

 **WARNING** : SLIGHT LANGUAGE, SCENES OF VIOLENCE AND A VERY LONG CHAPTER AHEAD!

* * *

Chapter 1: _The Beginning_ (PRMF episodes 1&2: Broken Spell)

* * *

Emerald eyes opened as the warm sunlight of the early morning caressed the rosy cheeks beneath the said eyes.

Cream comforters shifted as the figure stretched like a lazy kitten while the stray rays of sunlight continued to warm their body.

A moment later the comforters were pushed aside as the figure got up and walked towards the balcony with the grace of a proud feline.

The cool marble floor served as the perfect wake up call for the early bird as shivers went up and down their body.

Opening the sliding glass door that led to the balcony, the smell of wet grass, blooming flowers and fresh pastry assaulted the young individual as they walked over to the metal railings of their balcony and took in the beautiful sight of Briarwood in the early summer morning.

Closing their eyes, they took in a deep breath, savouring the scents that they woke up to every single day for the past seventeen years of their life.

The morning breeze caused goosebumps to prickle the smooth, flawless skin of the young teen.

Still though, the teen refused to enter their warm bedroom in seek of comfort from the slightly chilly morning.

The birds began their usual song as they greeted the new day they've been blessed to experience.

Their melodic song echoed inside the teen's body like a ricochet. Leaning against the cold surface of the railings on their elbows, the teen began to hum in tune with the song of all the birds around them.

If there had been anyone around at that moment, they would have been able to see an extremely rare sight.

A young teen who appeared to be in total bliss, humming a wonderful tune with the melodic chirping of the birds to act as the back up vocal, while the golden rays enveloped their lithe, curvy frame making them glow like an ethereal being.

Emerald eyes revealed themselves once more to the world around them and looked out at the city they've growed up in.

Small shops already began to open up one by one, cars passing each other by on the quiet street, a few people, whom woke up at the crack of dawn like the teen, went out and about doing their business.

A couple of dog owners walked their beloved pets up and down the road, early morning joggers ran towards the park, while senior citizens already began their rutine before the morning rush came around.

All in all, it seemed like the beginning of an ordinary day.

It's such a shame that the young teen thought otherwise.

For a while now, they felt a bit on edge. Now, some might wonder why would anyone be wierded out by a regular everyday morning?

And the response to that would be the twelve people of various ages that started going missing ever since spring break ended.

The teen sighed a bit as the memory of the first person that had gone missing came flashing back to them.

The person was a young girl, around the age of the young teen. Her name was Anne Smith.

The missing girl went to the same school as the teen, they even had a few classes together in junior year as well.

A few days later an old woman went missing too. After that, more people started to disappear. Leaving no trace behind, as if they never even existed.

The families of the missing people were unable to provide any piece of useful information to the police.

Their claims were that everything had been in perfect order. There hadn't any fights, arguments, or problems that would cause their disappearance or make them wish to run away.

Their bank accounts hadn't been touched at all, and none of the missing people had any extra money on the side or possessed any valuables that could be sold or that hold any kind of materialistic worth.

And surprisingly, those people all went missing when they where either in or around Briarwood forest. The city's so-called haunted area and horror zone.

 _'Which means that this case is as good as closed. Without_ _crucial_ _evidence that stated otherwise, those people are considered to have left the city of their own free will. In the eyes of the law, without a body to serve as proof, murder is immediately ruled out. Which, honestly, is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard in my entire life. There are many ways you can get rid of a body, if you know how to pull it off. It's so obvious! I'm surprised that the police department hadn't figured it out yet. It_ _ **is**_ _something that the entire police force should be aware of by now.'_ The teen mussed, looking up at the clear blue sky, watching the birds fly about across the infinite ocean above in silence for a few moments.

 _'Even if the police is practically giving up on trying to push this case forward, those people still deserved to be found and for justice to be served. Whether they be dead or alive. The city owes them_ _and_ _their families that much, at the very least. Now, the question is: Where could they be?'_ Emerald orbs surveyed the city with a critical eye.

 _'If I remember correctly, on the day that Anne disappeared, the police managed to find her cell phone at the very entrance of the Briarwood forest 20 minutes after her rape alarm was activated. Her parents always worried that something awful might happen to her, so her rape alarm was directly connected to the police station.'_ Long, thin and delicate fingers pushed the chocolate brown strands away from the teen's heart-shaped face.

 _'A few inches away from her cell phone, there were splatters of dried blood on the ground. The lab results stated that the blood found on the scene was B negative. Anne's AB positive, just like me. Oddly enough, there hadn't been a single trace that would indicate that the ground had been disturbed and it had been raining heavily just two days before she went missing. The forest floor was very muddy and the grass was slippery, yet no footsteps or tire tracks in sight. Also, Anne was more on the plump side. Which means, that her attacker or attackers would have had a hard time trying to restrain her. Then, there's the fact that Anne would have never came anywhere near the forest due to her fear of the dark and all the made up ghost stories she'd heard about in her childhood. I highly doubt that she would ever willingly go for a 'stroll' there. After Anne's disappearance, everyone else seemed to have evaporated into thin air. No cell phones, no articules of clothing, nothing whatsoever.'_ The teen's eyes landed on the forest that could be seen even through the thick morning mist.

The heavy mist that surrounded the forementioned forest made it seem even more dangerous. It was as if the mist acted like a shield. Warding any potential attention away from Briarwood's 'haunted' forests.

 _'I know for a fact that their disapperance has absolutely nothing to do with the forest. Anyone with a bit of common sense could see that. Nevertheless, I_ _ **will**_ _get to the bottom of this. No matter what.'_ The young teen vowed to the dark woods, glaring at it and turned around on their heel, making their way towards their bedroom.

Upon entering, the teen glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

 _'6:15? Already? I must have been far too lost in thought this time around.'_ The brunette thought and walked towards the walk-in closet to pick out the outfit for the day.

Once that was over with, the teen went into the bathroom and rid themselves of their night clothing.

An hour later, a thin arm wiped away the steam from the large mirror in the bathroom to reveal a young woman of the tender age of seventeen.

The said young woman had shoulder lenght chocolate brown hair that curls slightly at the ends. The rich chocolate brown hair complemented the creamy skin of the young teen perfectly.

The beauty of her locks enriched the beauty of her eyes.

Her unique emerald irises are the crown jewels of her lovely heart-shaped face. Long, thick black eyelashes enhanced the beauty of her eyes along with her sharp brown eyebrows and rosy cheeks.

Practically, forcing people to look into her eyes and not look away from them for a single moment.

Picking up her toothbrush, she poured a small portion of her favorite spearmint toothpaste on it.

Moisting the small morsel of paste, the teen began to brush her teeth. 20 minutes or so later, she left the bathroom after cleaning up after herself.

As soon as she got dressed, the brunette left her bedroom and went down to the kitchen, only to be surprised when she noticed that no one was up yet.

 _'Those lazybones are probably still laying around in bed wide awake, refusing to get up.'_ She almost rolled her eyes at that. Somethings will never change, apparently.

With a fond smile on her face, she went about the kitchen, preparing breakfast for everyone.

Opening the refrigerator, she pulled out the eggs, milk and fruits. She had decided, while she was in the shower, that she would make her infamous chocolate chip pancakes with banana and vanilla whip cream.

Turning on the stove, the young brunette started preparing the batter, simultaneously turning on the coffee maker and preparing some fresh juice to go with the breakfast she was making.

Some people probably wouldn't be able to juggle a few different tasks at the same time, but the brunette was able to do even more than this and not even bat an eye. It's practically second nature to her, thanks to her loving mother.

The sun's rays reflected off the utencils the teen had placed on the table before she placed the final breakfast plate in the centre.

Turning towards the counter, she picked up a tray filled with a few pancakes, some french toast, a bowl of fruits and a tall glass of cold apple juice and water.

Checking the time on her way out of the kitchen, the young teen made her way towards the room on the opposite end of the hall.

Balancing the food tray on one hand with a lot of expertise, the brunette knocked on the door twice, then waited patiently for a response (even though she already knew what the said response would be).

She knocked once more a little firmly, before hearing someone groan softly within the bedroom.

With a soft smile, she entered the room as quietly as possible.

There, in the middle of the room, she saw a small figure laying in bed, all wrapped up in pastel blue blankets.

Walking over towards the bed, she placed the food tray on the bedside table and sat on the side of the bed, right next to the figure, trying to gently wake them up.

"Come on, Maddie, wake up. It's a beautiful day outside and you can't spend it lying around in bed. Come on, wake up. Wakey wakey. Come on, nice and easy now." She stated gently but firmly as she poked Maddie's cheek.

Maddie groaned at the continued 'assault' on her left cheek.

Turning on her left side, Maddie tried to go back to sleep once more.

Key word being ' _tried_ '.

Just as she was about to enter dreamland again, she felt her younger sister poking her right cheek this time with a giggle.

 _'Why won't she let me sleep in peace?'_ Maddie thought with a groan.

"Vida, it's far too early for this. Come back again later. I wanna sleep for a little while more." Maddie whined, opening her eyes a bit to look at her baby sister.

"It's almost eight o'clock, Maddie." The beautiful brunette, Vida stated calmly as she crossed her legs.

"I even made you your favorite breakfast _and_ I personally brought it up to you. It would be a pity to let it go cold now. Chocolate chip pancakes should be eaten while they're still hot. Wouldn't you agree, sis?" She added, bringing the tray of goods towards herself and placing it on her lap.

Maddie, on the other hand, pouted at the clever use of her favorite food against her.

Opening up one eye to make sure that the brunette wasn't making it up, she almost cried out when she saw the delicious treats perfectly sorted upon the silver food tray.

 _'Oh, that smells sooo gooood!'_ She almost openly drooled as the wonderful scents reached her nostrils.

Vida smiled tenderly when she noted that her sister's pupils dilated at the sight of the food tray that was currently resting on her lap.

"I see that caught your attention." Her smile widened and she reached over to gently pull her sister's soft onyx strands away from her beautiful oval-shaped face.

"You really do know me better than anyone." Maddie laughed as Vida pushed her hair away from her cheek and then caressed it with her warm digits.

"Well, we _are_ sisters, Maddie. That is to be expected after all these years of growing up together, side by side." Vida said as Maddie sat up on her bed.

"Have you eaten anything yet, sis?" Maddie asked just as Vida placed the food tray on Maddie's lap.

"Not yet. I'll probably just pick up some fruit on my way out. I'm going out for a little stroll." The brunette got up from the bed and walked over to the windows, pulling the curtains away so that the sunlight could light the room up.

"Vida, you know I don't like it when you skip out on breakfast. You, as well as I do, know that it's the most important meal of the day." Maddie looked at her sister, whose back remained turned to her, with a serious expression on her face.

"And, you didn't come down for dinner last night either, sis. You should really eat something before you go. Why don't we eat this wonderful breakfast you made for me together? Just how we used to do all the time when we were little. Come on, it'll be fun. I'll even do the funny voices." Maddie pressed on when the young teen hadn't said anything for a few minutes.

Vida resisted the urge to sigh and roll her eyes at her sister's insistance.

While she was well aware that Maddie was just worried about her overall health because she loved her that much, she had far more important things to do at the moment.

Like saving innocent people who need her help and are in God-knows-what kind of danger as they speak.

(It's too bad her family doesn't see it that way. And why? Because they aren't the ones in pain or the ones affected by the loss or the things that had been happening around the city so far.)

Still, she needed to calm Maddie down before she starts overreacting and making it even harder for her to leave.

Meaning, Operation: 'Kiss and Ditch' was about to commence.

"You needn't worry about me, Maddie. I'm old enough to look after myself. However, if it will make you feel better, we'll have lunch together at any bakery of your choice. I'll even eat whatever you want me to eat. Now, I really need to get going. I'll see you at Rock-Porium later on." Vida said to her worrywart sister as she walked over to her and kissed her cheek.

"Enjoy your breakfast, Princess. I love you." With that she briskly walked to the door, her sister's reply fell deaf on her ears as the door shut behind her with a soft click.

"I love you too!" Maddie called out as the door closed and sighed out loud when she was unable to hear the clicking sound of her sister's high heels.

 _'Oh, Vida. What are you up to this time around?'_ Maddie thought to herself, dread already forming in the pit of her stomach as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Maddie knew her sister better than anyone. There was little Vida could hide from her, after all. And the calculating look she'd glimpsed in Vida's rare green eyes worried her greatly.

Once Vida worked out some crazy scheme inside her head, there was no force in this or any other universe that could prevent her from executing it.

(She would personally build a shrine to whomever manages to tame her baby sister's unyielding nature. A feat such as that deserved to be commemorated.)

Maddie couldn't even begin to describe the fear that settles in her heart every single time Vida gets involved in something very dangerous or when she gets bored.

Yes, Vida might be extremely smart, clever, sharp and some kind of a prodigy and some miracle child, but she's still seventeen years old. She was far too young to be even thinking in the way she currently was.

Maddie had the opportunity to meet other geniuses from other cities, states, continents even! And none of them think nor act the way her sister does in certain situations.

(Which is nearly every situation, if we were to speak honestly now. And there were times Maddie wondered what exactly goes on in her sister's head.)

There were plenty of other much better, much safer, things for her to be doing in her spare time.

Like, for example, listening to some music, or painting, or cooking, or baking, or watching old movies, or gardening, or something like that. Anything at all, really.

Honestly, anything's better than whatever she's probably doing right now!

 _'Dear God, please protect my sister from any kind of harm. I know she has little to no regards for her own well-being and safety sometimes for the sake of others, but that doesn't mean that I feel the same way about that. Amen.'_ With that prayer being said, Maddie started eating the most heavenly food on Earth. Her sister's pancakes.

An hour later, Maddie came down the stairs, all dressed up and ready for work.

Stopping by the large mirror in the hallway, she fixed her hair a bit.

Once she was done with that, Maddie took a few seconds to study herself in the mirror.

 _'My hair is starting to get in the way. Maybe I should stop by Lisa's salon and get a haircut. It won't be too big of a change. Short hair is in now, right? Or maybe I should just leave it alone?'_ Maddie wondered to herself as she looked at herself in different angles.

While she was doing that, a tall slender woman came down the stairs with the grace of a lady.

The said lady stopped at the bottom step as she took in the sight of the young ravenette examining herself in front of the mirror.

"Madison, are you alright, sweetheart?" She asked the young girl, making her jump a bit in the process.

Maddie turned around to face the woman, her heart still beating wildly in her chest cavity.

"I'm alright, mom. I'm just getting ready for work." She responded nonchalantly, somehow managing to slow down her heartbeat.

Soft onyx orbs examined their younger counterparts for a few seconds and wisely decided to drop the topic she wanted to bring up for some other time.

Instead, the woman looked around the hallway, searching for the beautiful emerald irises of her youngest child.

"And where's your sister, dear?" She asked, noticing that Vida was nowhere around.

"Vida went out for a stroll not too long ago." Maddie responded and almost laughed at the look of dread that crossed on her mother's flawless face.

Although, Maddie couldn't blame her. Her sister had a bit of a habit of turning something as innocent as walking into something much more serious. Not to mention dangerous too.

(Especially, if it has something to do with whatever Vida's cooking up this time.)

The last time Vida said she was going out for a "little stroll", she got Pentagon involved.

At that thought, Maddie started to go a little pale as well.

"Maribel, honey, have you seen my blue shirt anywhere? I couldn't find it in the..." A tall muscular man rushed down, only to stop when he took in the state of the two women before him.

"Hey, daddy." Maddie greeted her father with an awkward smile on her face. She was hoping her father wouldn't be around for this.

Because, if this was going to turn into the Pentagon incident that happened two years ago...well, she might as well call a doctor right away.

Blue eyes soften up at the sight of his oldest daughter, then they turned to gaze at the beautiful woman he had married, taking note of the forced smile she sent his way and the way her muscles stiffened.

"What's going on? Is everything alright? What happened?" The man asked, bracing himself for the worst like a true soldier.

"It's nothing out of the ordinary, dear. Maddie's getting ready for work and Vida went out for a little stroll a while ago." Maribel answered in a upbeat tone, expertly hiding her growing worry from her husband.

(If she only knew how pointless that was.)

The second "Vida" and "stroll" registered in his brain, the man took a deep breath and shook his head in resignation.

"Will the Pentagon get involved again this time?" He asked.

"No, dear." His wife responded.

"How about the FBI? Or the CIA? Or SEAL?"

"No, no and no, love. Neither one of those nor any other special agency will be getting involved this time around. Vida simply went out for a bit. Please, stop worrying so much, Alexander. You know that the doctor said no stressful situations for you." Maribel stated calmly, reaching over to caress her husband's cheek with a small smile.

"Oh, thank God!" Alexander sighed in relief as he visibly relaxed, not even being able to hear the rest of his wife's speech after hearing the first part about his youngest child.

It looked as if though the weight of the whole world just got lifted off his shoulders.

Poor man. He must've been through so much over the past few years with his daughter's dangerous hobbies.

(He honestly had hoped with his entire being that neither one of his children would take after his mother. That woman was the embodiment of stubborness and danger! And unfortunately for him, Karma decided to pull the plug on all his hopes.)

 _'God, please protect my daughter from danger and give patience to any poor boy who decides to date her. He will most certainly need it.'_ He sent a silent prayer to 'The Man Upstairs'.

"Would you like some breakfast, sweetie?" Maribel turned to her daughter.

"I already ate. Vida brought me breakfast just before she went out." Maddie said, picking up her bag.

"And has Vida eaten anything yet? She didn't have dinner with us last night. She's been avoiding eating with us a lot lately. Is she mad at us or is there something she isn't telling us?" Her father asked this time.

"I don't think so, dad. But, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it later on." With that she kissed her parents on their cheeks and quickly walked out, calling out loudly that she loved them.

"We love you too, dear. Have a nice day!" Her mother called after her.

30 minutes later, Maddie walked inside the store called Rock-Porium and saw her best friends/colleagues goofing off as usual.

"Hey, you guys. Where's Toby?" She asked as she walked over to the counter, picking up her uniform.

"He went to the beach to catch some waves. He didn't say when he'll be back." A tall and toned brunette with a heavy Australian accent answered her as he went through some cheesy magazine that she rather not mention.

"Okay." She said slowly and continued speaking, "And Vida? Has she stopped by yet?"

"Nope. Her shift doesn't start yet." A different voice answered her as they zoomed around the store on a skateboard.

"Chip, you're going to hurt yourself or someone else on that thing." Maddie said sternly, however it went completely unnoticed by her male colleague.

"Shouldn't you be working?" She added, looking around the store, taking great notice of the mess it was in.

"It's been a very slow day, Madds. Chill out a bit." Xander answered from his comfy seat, still not doing anything at all.

"Besides, wouldn't you like to sit down and do nothing for once?" Chip added in, finally stopping in front of the young ravenette with a childlike smile on his freckled face.

Maddie regarded the young teen with a stern look, before a small smile formed on her face.

Chip was such a child sometimes. Always so optimistic, so happy, so full of energy and all over the place. Always smiling and laughing.

With his carefree attitude, his jokes, his naive view of the world and his ever growing love of fantasy, he truly reminded her of a grown up child.

There were times she used to wonder if there was anything that could bring this boy down. Even when he was bullied and teased by their peers, he still managed to wear a bright smile on his face.

(That might have something to do with Vida coming to his rescue every single time he was bullied. Seeing that he had a friend must've meant a lot to a ten-year-old kid with little to no true friends at the time.)

"Toby's gonna freak out when he sees that the store's in such a mess, you know that, right?"

"So? There aren't any customers in the store right now. Plus, we've got plenty of time until he gets back." He said, taking off the black helmet from his head, revealing his short fiery hair that got messy from wearing the helmet for who knows how long.

"Yeah, but if you aren't gonna clean this up now, what are the chances that you'll do it later on? Not to mention, Vida's gonna be here soon. And do you really want a repeat of last Christmas Eve again? Because, I most certainly don't." Maddie said, hoping that Chip would at least come to his senses.

(Since, making Xander come back to planet Earth would equal making her sister stay away from danger. Both tasks are just as hard and impossible to accomplish in this lifetime alone.)

And judging by how pale his face had gotten in the span of five seconds, her method seems to be working.

"On second thought, I think I'll mop up the floor. Maybe even, throw out the trash and stuff." With that said, Chip went to work. Having been on the receiving end of the petite chocolate haired hurricane's silent, but wild, rage once before, he didn't want to lose his family jewels this early on in his life.

Maddie felt a little guilty for using her sister in order to make Chip tidy the place up, but she had no choice.

They wouldn't clean the store and she couldn't leave the cash register unattended. Also, she didn't want the store to get reported for its current state and get Toby in a world of trouble.

Plus, Vida would've thrown a fit if she saw the state the store was in when she came in to start her shift.

And no one deserved to have that fury unleashed upon them.

As much as she adored her baby sister, and she did, Vida could be very scary (and dangerous) when she got angry.

The way her eyes harden and sharpen, Maddie shivered, it was as if she could literally make your heart obliterate with just one look.

 _'The end justifies the means.'_ A tiny voice, that sounded suspiciously like Vida, whispered at the back of her head.

 _'I'll just buy him an extra large pizza to make up for this.'_ Maddie decided.

Walking up to the counter, Maddie wiped it up a bit as two male customers came into the store.

 _'Oh boy. This won't go well.'_ Maddie thought to herself, bracing herself for the oncoming awkwardness as the two males walked over to her.

Smiling a bit, she greeted the two young customers.

"Hi, guys! How can I help you?" She asked kindly, hoping that they would just get whatever they needed and leave.

"Hey there, Maddie. I was wondering if you got that CD I ordered a week ago? I need it for my boyfriend's birthday party next week." One of the guys asked with a friendly smile on his face.

"Oh, yeah. It's right here. We even had it wrapped up for you too." She said, pulling out a CD case wrapped up in electric blue wrapping paper.

"Electric blue, right?" She stated rather than asked as she handed him the case.

"Yup. Thanks, again. It really means a lot. I've been looking all over the city for it." He said, handing her a few bills for the gift.

"Is Vida here, Maddie? I hadn't seen her around town in a while." The second guy interrupted his friend, as he looked around the store, searching for the head of chocolate brown hair.

"Ah, no, Timmy. Vida's not here yet. Her shift starts in an hour or so." Maddie replied awkwardly, internally preparing herself for the dreaded question he was about to ask her.

"Oh." The man frowned, "Well, could you tell her to give me a call sometime? Or whenever she's free?" He asked, hope shining in his dark eyes.

"Sure thing, Timmy. Have a good day!" She smiled a tight smile, feeling her heart pang for the poor enamored guy and waved at them as they finally left the store.

She sighed in relief, feeling as if she dodged a huge bullet.

"Who're those guys, Madds? Did they give you any trouble?" Xander asked from behind her, making her jump a bit.

"No, not exactly. They're just some guys from Vida's school. I just feel a little bad for the tall guy, Timmy. He's been in love with Vida for almost three years now. And, apparently, still very much is." She explained to her colleague through a tired sigh, before she remembered something very important about the said colleague.

Casting a quick glance at Xander, she mentally started kicking herself when she saw a sad look cross on his handsome face.

 _'Of all the people in the world to be talking to about this...'_ She wanted to smack herself for her stupidity.

She was about to comfort him and apologize, when he rudely cut her off.

"Yeah, well, he should join the goddamn club." He turned around and walked away from her, his back straight as an arrow.

Immediately, Maddie felt extremely guilty. She didn't want to reopen old wounds or make things worse.

Xander was a dear friend to her, she didn't mean to hurt him. Nor even wanted to do so in any single way possible.

It's bad enough that she was the only one who knew Xander's heavily guarded secret for the past few years, and now she just had to poke at a very tender spot for him.

All because she just couldn't keep her stupid mouth shut for once in her life! She really needed to buy a muzzle for herself soon.

 _'Oh, Xander. I wish there was a way for me to help you.'_ She stared after him sorrowfully.

"Hey, Maddie, I cleaned up the store a bit. It's not done, but it's definitely an improvement from how it looked like this morning. Could you call V and see if she..." Chip stopped talking when he noticed that the ravenette wasn't even listening to him.

Instead, she looked as if she was trying hard not to drop down on the ground and cry.

"Hey, you okay, Maddie?" He asked gently, not wanting to startle the poor girl.

Maddie nodded her head and gave him a watery smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just...thinking. Now, what were you saying, Chip?" She tried to quickly change the subject, before he pressed on the issue.

Chip blinked at sudden mood change, but decided not to question it.

"I tidied up the store a bit. I was kinda hoping you could call V and see if she could pick up a couple of pizzas on her way here? I'll call the pizza place downtown." He asked with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Sure thing. It'll give me the perfect excuse to see where she is too." With that, she pulled out her silver phone and dialed sister's phone number.

"Voice mail." She said after a few seconds, "I'll just text her." She added, opening the messages icon and started typing.

"So much for checking up on her, huh?" Chip chuckled.

He, better than anyone, knew that if Vida doesn't want to be found or reached than she won't be. Which was one of the reasons she was so good at playing Hide-and-Seek when they were kids.

"Yeah, well, she still owes me lunch. Wherever she is right now." Maddie smiled at the ginger haired male as they both went back to work.

 _10 minutes later..._

Handing the right amount of change back to the customer, Maddie looked at the door, hoping that her sister would walk through them soon. Safe and unharmed.

 _'Vida, wherever you are, please be safe.'_ She thought with a small sigh.

* * *

 _Somewhere just outside of Briarwood City..._

A loud rumbling of a motorcycle could be heard through out the area as the driver sped towards the city of Briarwood.

Checking the fuel level, the young man noted that he will be needing a refill soon.

Luckily for him, his sister made sure to tell him where all the gas stations were around and in the city.

Looking up, he noticed the road sign that stated that Briarwood was only 25 miles away.

Which meant that he was about 30 miles away from his new home.

Swerving down the motorway, the young man pulled over to look at the city that would be his new home for the next few months.

Taking off his helmet, a pair of leaf green eyes surveyed the city that could be seen from where he was.

"So, that must be Briarwood." He stated, his eyes roving over the nature surrounding the city.

Glancing at the fuel level once more, the handsome stranger deduced that he had more than enough fuel to get him to the next gas station.

And if he remembered correctly, the next gas station was about a mile or so ahead.

 _'Right next to a diner too.'_ He thought as he placed a hand on his rumbling stomach.

During all the excitement of being on the road again, he completely forgot about breakfast.

Placing his helmet back on his head, he started up his motorcycle and drove on, speeding up a bit in order to fill up his tank and his stomach.

The sooner he got back on the road, the sooner he would meet up with his sister and his little nephews.

A while later, he finally caught sight of the small gas station.

He honestly couldn't remember a time when he had been happy to see the said establishment.

Parking next to a pink Mercedes, the young man got off his ride, walked over to the filling station and started refilling his bike's fuel tank.

While he waited, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation from the car next to him.

"Have you seen the way she just walked in here? It was as if she, like, owned the place or something! Cocky, much? I mean, have you seen the way hot guys throw themeselves at her feet." A slim blonde complained to her friends.

"This coming from the same girl who openly oggles and drools at her whenever she walks by? Yeah, I find it kinda hard to believe you actually notice how she acts." A sarcastic retort came from a short ravenette standing next to the said blonde.

"S-shut up, Melissa! I _DO NOT_ **DROOL** AT HER!" The blonde shrieked in outrage as her face turned bright red.

"You didn't deny the fact that you oggle her, though!" The ravenette laughed loudly as the poor blonde went crimson.

"Hey! I don't blame her, the girl's a fine piece of ass." A dark-skinned girl defended her red-faced friend.

"Although, Bonnie's got a point. She's gotta be asexual if she didn't even bat an eyelash at that hot exchange student from Mexico last year. Veronica's house was close by the park where it happened and she told me all about it afterwards."

"What happened?" The blonde girl asked, eager for some hot gossip.

"Hey, I heard about that too! My ex bae told me that Bruno got on his knees and begged her to go out with him. In Spanish, no less! And do you wanna know what she did? She just walked away without saying a word. She didn't even look back at poor Bruno, who was completely heartbroken."

"Really?!"

"Oh, poor Bruno!"

"Ouch, that was too cold!"

"Yeah, even for her! Man, I would've killed for a chance like that with _that_ hottie! That girl's out of her mind."

"Yeah, I would've totally tapped that ass!"

The young man rolled his eyes at the typical behaviour of spoiled girls as the said girls continued gossiping about some prissy chick.

 _'Women...'_ He thought to himself as he walked into the store to pay for the fuel.

Pulling out his wallet, he took out a couple of bills and handed them to the teenage boy behind the cash register.

Walking out, he moved his bike to the parking lot next door.

 _'Finally, a place to eat.'_ He walked inside the diner and went straight to the counter, his forgotten stomach growling along the way, ignoring the loud conversations and laughter of the hungry people present as he did so and just took the first empty seat he found by the counter.

"Howdy, sonny! What can I get ya?" An elderly dark-skinned man asked the young man cheerfully.

"Whatever's the usual around here, sir. I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse." He said with a small grin on his handsome face, already liking the old man.

"I hope you're joking about the horse part, sonny. If you actually ate horses, then what would us, old folk, bet on?" The old man chuckled, making the younger male huff in amusement.

"I'm Earl, the owner of this establishment. What's your name, sonny?" He asked, offering his hand for the male to shake.

"It's nice to meet you, Earl. I'm Nick." The younger male introduced himself, shaking the offered limb.

"You new around here, Nick?" Earl asked kindly. Living in the city for as long as he had, made Earl an expert on being able to tell newcomers apart from his 'city folk'.

"Is it that obvious?" Nick wondered.

"To some people not really. But, to those who know where to look, kinda. Don't worry though, you'll fit right in. You're young, good-lookin' and polite. The girls will be falling at your feet before you know it. Or maybe it will be the other way around. Who knows?" The old man winked and smiled, before he turned towards the kitchen.

"Yo, Howie! One Breakfast Special for the young lad here." He called out loudly, however it went unheard by the other occupants in the establishment.

The racket they were making was far too loud for them to hear each other, let alone someone yelling at the counter.

"So, how long will you be staying in Briarwood, son? I'm assuming that's where you're headed, right?" Earl asked, pouring two glasses of beer for him and the young lad.

"Yeah. I was planning on staying with my sister for little while. For the entire summer, at least. After that, I'm not entirely sure." Nick explained, taking a sip of the perfectly cool beverage.

It's been a while since he drank beer, so he was gonna savour it for as long as he could.

"Nothing made you stick around for long, son? A job? Friends? Or a special lady friend, maybe?" Earl asked, feeling a little disappointed with the news of the young man leaving soon.

"Nah. I like my life the way it is without the added stress. Maybe someday, who knows?" Nick offered, noticing the sad look in the old man's eyes.

"Well, as long as you're happy, sonny. Nothing else matters, trust me." Earl offered the same words of wisdom his mother gave him a long time ago.

Nick was about to answer when the roaring laughter from the men a few meters away from him interrupted him.

"Morning drunkards. Every city has 'em. If I didn't know 'em personally, I would've kicked 'em out a long time ago." Earl stated as he looked upon the large group of men with disapproval in his eyes.

Nick looked at the group and then turned away from them. They weren't worth his time, so why would he bother with them?

While he was taking his second sip of the cool alcoholic drink, the bell above the diner's doors jingled, indicating that another person has just entered the place.

A nanosecond passed after the bell stopped ringing and then, there was nothing but silence.

A completely opposite scene from the one Nick saw when he walked through those very same doors.

Finding it a bit strange and unusual, Nick turned around in his seat and promptly felt the air get knocked right out of him as he did.

Had he not been holding onto the armrests, Nick was certain that he would have fallen over by now.

'Cuz there, standing in the doorway and completely bathed in sunlight, was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his entire life.

The stray rays of light made her rich brown tresses and soft-looking creamy skin shine like liquid gold, making most of her features hard to distinguish.

With the exception of...

 _'Her eyes...'_ Nick thought in a daze as stared helplessly. His pale green eyes fully locked onto her rich green orbs.

They were the most beautiful eyes in the entire universe! They were so intense and so green.

So very, very, very, very vividly green.

 _'But, how is that possible? I've traveled around the entire state and I've never seen such a shade of green before. They just cannot be real. There was no being alive with eyes like those.'_ Nick strained his eyes to get a better look. However, that was next to impossible due to the lighting.

She had to be wearing contact lenses! Nick reasoned, frustrated that he couldn't get a good look at the face of the girl whose eyes captivated him at first sight.

Taking a quick glance at the other customers, it seems as though he wasn't the only one whom this mysterious minx hypnotized with just one look.

The majority of the male gender openly drooled at the sight of her, while the few women, that were in the diner, didn't even bother to hide their negative feelings towards the attractive young brunette.

She, on the other hand, paid little to no attention to the people around her as she walked (more like glided) towards the counter like a model would on a catwalk.

Eyes followed her as she passed by the front tables, leaving only a pleasant trail of her sweet vanilla perfume behind.

The soft clicking of her black high heels was the only sound that could be heard inside the homey diner. Aside from, of course, the sound of the food sizzling in the kitchen, however, no one was paying attention to that at the moment.

Nick's eyes unwillingly went up and down the young brunette's form, noticing that aside from being quite 'gifted', she was obviously from a very rich and quite possibly a very important family.

If her clothing style, elegance and confidence were anything to go by, that is.

( **A/N** : Vida's outfit: a pair of black sleek closed toe high heels (the classics), a black knee-lenght leather pencil skirt and a sleeveless duo colored tunic-like top that's shorter at the front and longer at the back; the top is white at the front (with black lace floral patterns that go around the shoulders and upper chest area) and black at the back, a small pair of diamond earrings, a white gold band diamond ring on her right middle finger, black clutch purse and her hairstyle is that of Kathryn, as stated above.)

Growing up in a working middle-class family, having both parents work for corporate businesses, and traveling around for as long as he has, made Nick almost an expert on judging people and their characters on first sight.

And the beautiful brunette walking towards him... _well,_ the counter, was the type of girls who usually meant one of two (if not both) things: business **_and_** a whole lot of trouble.

"Well, I'll be..." He heard Earl whisper, before the man chuckled to himself and walked out from behind the counter, meeting the young female halfway.

"Lady Rocca, as I live and breathe." Earl said with a small smile on his face, taking the girl's hand and kissing it like a perfect gentleman.

 _'She's royalty? Maggie never told me there were blue bloods in the city. She's usually crazy about celebrity gossip and stuff like that.'_ Nick thought as he watched the pair's exchange with great interest. Much like everybody else in the diner.

"Hello, Earl. It has been a while since we last spoke, hasn't it?" She said with a soft, tender smile on her face.

(Nick didn't know why nor could he explain it with words, but her melodic voice made his heartbeat speed up to almost alarming levels.)

"Damn straight. Now, tell me, what brings you to my humble establishment?" Earl asked as he led her to a seat, one that was right next to Nick's.

"Besides your magnificent chamomile tea, information concerning that little favor I asked of you the last time I came for a visit." Vida said as she took her seat, crossing her legs as soon as she did.

Nick could've sworn he heard several men break their necks from the speed they've turned to catch the said action.

He couldn't quite blame them, either. As a perfectly healthy man and having the front row seat that he had, he's gotta admit, she's got the best legs he had seen so far.

And the tight skirt and sexy shoes she had on, gave her lower limbs the sex appeal to make every man (maybe, even woman) twist and turn.

Realizing just where his thoughts were heading, Nick looked away from the tempting sight, waiting as patiently as he could for his food.

"I should've known you wouldn't come all this way here just to see little old me." Earl stated in mock sadness as he pouted at her.

"Oh, Earl. You know that I always stop by for a visit when I have the time to do so. Who else would actually help me with my schemes _and_ make me the best tea in the world while doing so?" The brunette gently caressed the old man's hand in a friendly gesture for a second or two.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep buttering me up, Doll. Old men like me like being flattered by beautiful young noblewomen like you." Earl rolled his eyes in jest.

"You'll have to wait for the tea, though. We're kinda packed today and I doubt Olaf will manage your order on top of all the other ones he ha..."

"Correction. The _chef_ managed to prepare all food orders and is now more than available to take the order of such a beautiful young woman." A male voice, with a heavy Ukrainian accent, interrupted Earl as the tall man walked out of the kitchen, carrying a large food tray.

Placing the food tray in front of Nick, the tall man leaned on the counter and grinned at the young brunette.

"I am the chef of the kitchen and it would be my pleasure to serve a woman of your caliber." He said, taking her hand and kissing it with frevor.

"Yeah, and the woman's way out of your league, so back off, ya pervert!" Earl whacked the man with the back of his hand and pulled him away from the girl.

"Don't you have work to do in the kitchen? That's what I'm paying you for, after all." He said as he glared at his chef.

"And here I actually thought Frenk was bad when it came to women." Earl turned to look at the brunette and was about to apologize to her, when she elegantly intercepted.

"You needn't apologize, Earl. I'm used to this kind of behaviour. I honestly find these comments amusing at times. Although, I have to admit, Frenk had much better pick up lines than the rest of your staff." Vida said with a small smile.

Nick looked at the food before him, feeling a little sceptical about eating it, since he was wierded out by the man that handled his food.

"Frenk was weak and girlish. A woman like you needs a real man. And you know what they say: Once you go Ukraine, you will scream with sex pain." The chef said, while winking at the brunette.

Nick made a face at that, grossed out of his mind at witnessing a potential sexual assault.

 _'He's out of his mind, if he actually thinks any self-respecting woman would really fall for that.'_ He thought, suddenly losing his appetite.

"Olaf! Ya dumbass! Get back in there and get to work already! You're starting to scare our customers!" Earl threw an old cloth at his perverted employee.

Olaf dodged the cloth and went back in the kitchen, not wanting to anger his boss further.

"I'm so sorry about that. I usually have him on a leash. Now, I wonder if I should've had him neutered before I hired him." Earl said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Earl, please mind your language." Vida chided lightly.

"What? It's true, everybody knows that. Now, I'll just run to my office and grab those files you wanted. Helen'll be here soon with your tea." With that Earl left the two youngsters.

Nick looked back at his food and felt his stomach rage. Despite the off putting scene, he still hasn't eaten anything yet and he was still very much hungry.

So, Nick would have to swallow his pride and hope that the food was at least good and satisfactory.

As much as he liked Earl, his chef didn't really give him enough reasons to trust him with anything edible. Or drinkable.

"Unless you cease scowling at your plate, your face will gain more wrinkles than it should at your age." Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts, making him jump a bit.

Nick turned to face his beautiful seatmate and almost blushed at how close their seats were.

"While I do understand your scepticism, I'll give you a little friendly advice." Vida stopped talking to take a small sip of her warm tea.

"Avoid making those faces while Olaf is close by. As daring and brash as he is, Olaf's a bit sensitive when it comes to his cooking skills. If he catches you doing that, he _will_ remember it. Trust me when I say that you won't like what would follow afterwards." Vida looked directly into the handsome stranger's light green eyes.

Nick suddenly felt a little self-conscious at the undivided attention he was getting from the girl.

Now, that they were so close to one another, he could take a closer look at her.

She's just as beautiful up close as she was from a far.

Her perfectly styled hair framed her face beautifully, giving her skin a much better emphasis, which in turn made her eyes stand out more too.

Deciding to risk it, Nick looked deeper into her eyes and noted that she was NOT wearing contacts at all.

Which could only mean that her eye color was completely natural.

 _'Which makes her all the more dangerous and fatally attractive.'_ He felt his chest restricting when his eyes took another turn at studying her entire physic, only to then notice that she had yet to take her bewitching eyes off of him.

Meaning that she saw him checking her out, catching him red handed in his indecent act.

 _'God, it's almost like she can see right through me.'_ Nick felt goosebumps break out on his skin underneath the cool material of his black leather jacket.

 _'Well, at least I'm not blushing yet. That's an improvement.'_ Nick thought and looked back at his food, breaking all further contact with her.

Picking up a fork, Nick tried the omelette first and almost cried out at the delicious taste.

"Man, this is sooo good!" He declared with his mouth full as he all but devoured the whole plate in one go.

It was only when his stomach was humming with content that he remembered a beautiful girl was sitting next to him.

A beautiful girl who happens to be around his age and comes from a high-standing noble family.

And one who just saw him eat like a pig and was probably grossed out by his table manners.

 _'Man, mom would've skinned me bare if she saw this.'_ Nick swallowed his food slowly this time, after chewing it like a normal human being, hoping that the brunette hadn't seen him scarf down an entire plate in a few seconds time.

So, for the next few minutes the young pair sat in complete silence. Only stealing glances of each other when the other one wasn't looking or were just too busy to notice.

That, of course, didn't mean that they weren't **_aware_** of the said action.

They simply chose to **_pretend_** that they were completely oblivious and going about with their own thing, while being hyper aware of the other person next to them.

Nick shifted in his seat, trying, but failing, to ignore the brunette's presence next to him. Because, with every passing second, Nick felt as if she was trying to get into his mind and see him from the inside out.

And it was starting to feel slightly unnerving, if Nick were to be honest with himself.

Here he was, sitting in a crowded diner, practically sweating bullets, while she was all calm and collected.

Acting like she wasn't bothered by the slight shift in the air around them. As if it was only in his head. That he was imagining it.

Imagining the numbness that took over his body.

Imagining the way his sences were completely focused on her. Like she was the very center of the universe or something.

Like she knew all the secrets of the world and wouldn't tell anyone.

Imagining the way he was anticipating her every move.

Anticipating when he would hear her softly blow into her herbal beverage to cool it down a bit before taking a sip.

Anticipating when he could glance at her again from the corner of his eye.

Anticipating the moment when the draft from the windows would blow passed them and bring her sweet perfume with it.

(Which always succeeded in making him feel both drunk and dizzy at the same time.)

Or was the breeze from the AC? Did the diner even have an AC? And if so, when had they turned it on?

Nick wasn't too sure he knew the answers to those questions. All he knew, was that if he doesn't take a deep breath and relax, he would get lightheaded and faint in front of everyone present.

 _'And that would look very manly, I'm sure.'_ Nick thought sarcastically, swallowing a piece of bread.

 _'I just need to relax. She's just some girl. Obviously a very important one, but still a girl.'_ Nick took a deep breath, relaxing in his seat.

 _'Maybe, if I treat her like one of the girls I used to date, I won't make such a huge deal out of this.'_ He glanced at her, just as she took a sip of her tea - back straight, legs crossed with a napkin neatly folded in her lap and everything.

Turning back to look at his plate, he wondered how stupid he could possibly get.

 _'I must've pick up Derek's stupidity after my last visit. Only he was capable of thinking that a girl like her could be placed in the same basket with girls like Lucy and Meghan.'_ Nick almost snorted at himself, obviously his brain lacked the oxygen it needed to function properly.

Then, a small voice at the back of his head wondered why he was even trying so hard to talk to a girl, whom he won't ever even see again after he leaves?

Before he could even answer that question, Earl came back, much to his relief.

"Sorry it took so long, Doll. I had some trouble opening the box they were in." Earl said while giving Vida a few manila envelopes that were marked as confidential, breaking the tense atmosphere between the pair.

"It was no problem at all, Earl. These files are worth the wait." Vida commented as she went through the information on them.

"So, what do you make of it so far?" Earl asked, pouring himself another glass of beer.

"I have two theories. One that I prefer over the other. I'll tell you about it later on. And, thank you for all your help, Earl. I'm very grateful for your support." Vida smiled a true smile at the man she loved like a grandfather.

"Who else would even bother with unsolved cases in our beloved city? Even great heroines need help every once and a while in order to get the job done." Earl clinked his beer glass with Vida's tea cup and took a large sip of his drink, while Vida placed the documents in her clutch purse.

Nick finished the last of omelette at that moment, unknowingly getting Earl's attention.

"How's the food, sonny? Was it any good?" The old man smiled brightly at the boy.

"It's amazing. Thanks, Earl. I really needed that." Nick grinned at him and took a bite of the tempting blueberry pie.

"Nick's new around here. He'll be staying a month or so in Briarwood. Although, I have a feeling you already figured that out." Earl winked at Vida, knowing all too well that the pretty brunette got the boy's number already.

"Is it seriously _that_ obvious?" Nick wondered out loud, he knew that Briarwood wasn't a small city, he could've been one of those quiet people for all they knew.

 _'Does everyone know everyone there? If so, then Maggie owes me big time for not telling me that in the first place.'_ Nick grumbled inwardly, already planning on shortening his stay there.

"For people like me and Lady Rocca over there, you might as well have walked in here with a flashing sign around your neck, sonny." Earl explained to the young boy, while Vida grinned at him over the rim of her cup.

Nick felt the back of his neck heat up at the attention he was getting from the brunette.

The creppy feeling of being transparent to the girl came back tenfold as she subtly glanced at him from top to bottom.

"And, it was very kind of you to keep our sweetheart company while I was gone." Earl added looking at him and the brunette with a secretive grin on his face.

Nick felt the heat spread on his face as he tried to swallow the last of his pie, only it seemed to have decided to stay in his throat, so he took a sip of his beer to wash it down.

He had always been a bit awkward and uncomfortable around popular and beautiful women. Which was why he avoided getting into situations like the one he was currently in.

"No problem. I'm Nick, by the way. It's nice to meet ya." Nick turned to the brunette, offering her his hand.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Nick. I would be the girl who wiped your face clean from the blueberry jam." Vida shook his hand, a mischievous smile appearing on her face.

Nick's eyes widened at the second part of her sentence, completely ignoring the shiver that went through his spine at the contact.

Raising his hand up, he touched his lips and saw that he, indeed, had blueberry jam smeared all over his mouth and cheeks.

 _'Oh, dear God. This just can't get any worse!'_ Nick paled a bit as the realization that he had a blueberry beard for who-knows-how-long the entire time they spoke since Earl came back.

Vida and Earl sniggered at the face he was making. He looked truly mortified and embarrassed.

Vida, who decided that the poor guy had had enough, pulled out her white embroidered handkerchief, gently pulled Nick's face towards her and wiped the tasty treat of his face.

 _'Well, this day just started geting more and more interesting.'_ Earl thought with a smug grin as he took in the pair before.

He could already tell that one day, in the near future, the two youngsters would be walking hand-in-hand down the street. And not as 'just friends' either.

He might be old, but even he could see that those two completed each other somehow.

Earl had known Vida ever since she was in diapers and he knew that only a headstrong, wild, fiery, energetic young man would be able to counter her.

And Earl honestly believed Nick was that man.

How? He wasn't too sure himself. There was just this little voice inside his head that told him so. And he decided to listen to it for a change.

If there had ever been a moment when Nick Russell desperately wished for the ground to open up and swallow him whole, then that moment would be the present one.

 _'I stood corrected. This_ _ **can**_ _get worse. Much, much worse.'_ Nick thought while his entire body froze in shock.

Vida, who seemed perfectly calm while wiping the face of a stranger, inwardly screamed at herself.

 _'What in the world am I doing?! I'm acting as if I'm his mother. Or worse, his overly fussy girlfriend.'_ Vida scolded herself, making sure to keep her irritation within.

She absolutely had no idea why she smiled softly at him when she finished cleaning him up.

"There you go, Nick. Quite the improvement from how you looked a few seconds ago." She commented lightly, placing her handkerchief on his food tray.

Nick managed to grace her with a little smile, even though he still felt uncomfortable with the whole jam ordeal.

"Thank you for the tea and for the files, Earl. You've helped me quite a lot with this new intel. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few more errands to take care of." Vida hugged Earl, picked up her clutch purse and turned to leave the diner.

That was the plan at least, until a large biker stopped her by roughly pulling her by the arm towards his table.

Vida tensed at the sudden contact, immediately analizing the situation at hand and sizing up her opponent.

Nick jumped out of his seat and was about to head over there to help her, when Earl pulled him back.

"You might wanna sit this one out, sonny. It won't be pretty." He advised, keeping his eyes on the brunette.

Nick looked at him as if he suddenly grew two more heads.

"Are you out of your mind, Earl?! She needs help! That idiot's gonna hurt her! And I'm not just gonna stand by and watch." Nick said fiercely, not being able to stand aside when someone needed help. Especially, if it was a girl who was being physically mistreated by a big oaf.

"He won't hurt her, sonny." He stated as if it was a 100% certain fact.

When Nick was about to protest, he added in order to calm the boy down.

"He won't get a chance to even lay one finger on her, sonny. Trust me on this one. That girl is tougher than this planet itself. Her grandpa and I trained her for these kinds of situations ourselves ever since she was little." With that he pulled the boy to his seat, not wanting him to get in the way and get hurt.

Nick, who was a little shocked by the strength the old man had, remained in his seat, however that didn't diminish his wish to help her.

"Well, well, well, aren't you a pretty one? You look much better up close too." The bearded biker leered at her, while Vida withheld the urge to cover her nose when the stench of alcohol reached her nostrils.

"Thank you for the compliment. However, I do not return your sentiments. Now, remove your hand from my person, before it ends up broken." Vida said coolly, her face molded in a perfect blank mask.

The biker laughed along his crew, some even cat-calling and whistling.

Nick glared at the group and was about to lunge at them, when Earl's hand steadied him and kept him back.

"Ooh, kitten's got claws." He grinned, as his eyes looked the female up and down.

"You have absolutely no idea how big my claws really are. Now, I'm warning you for the last time, let go of my arm. You have less than three seconds to do so, before I seriously hurt you." Vida's eyes darken as her muscles tensed.

The man countinued to chuckle as his crew cheered him on, completely unaware of the drastic change in atmosphere around Vida.

The people who were closest to them moved away immediately, feeling that there would be one hell of a bloodbath.

When he pulled her fingers towards his lips to lick them, Vida's eyes flashed with danger.

In a split second, she grabbed his wrist in a firm grip, then grabbed his head with her other hand and banged it against the metal table. Hard.

Earl almost cringed when he saw the large man's head bounce off the metal table upon impact.

The key word being ' _almost_ '.

 _'Damn! That's gonna leave one hell of a bruise later on.'_ He thought, a small grin appearing on his face as he remembered how her first training session went on a dummy.

The diner was silent for a few seconds as the people took in the very odd sight.

The perverted biker was clutching his face as blood heavily gushed out of his nose, while the young brunette stood next to him, her blank mask returning on her pretty face.

The men around the injured man gaped at the petite brunette, not expecting her to be that strong.

"That's my girl." Earl said with a very proud grin on his face.

Nick was shell-shocked by what he just saw. When the brunette got grabbed by the man, he hadn't expected this outcome.

The girl seemed so small and fragile, it was almost laughable how she managed to apprehend such a large man.

"Unbelievable, right?" Earl stated, reading the boy's mind, his eyes not straying away from the girl he looked upon as his own grandchild.

Nick looked up at the old man, millions of questions flashing in his eyes.

"Just because she looks small, doesn't mean she's weak and defenseless, sonny. That girl is one hell of a genius and one hell of a fighter. She, my boy, is the embodiment of a one woman army." Earl explained, still not looking away from the young girl.

Vida eyed the bleeding man with zero sympathy in her eyes.

"I gave you a fair warning. You should have listened to me when you had the chance." Vida chided the poor man as if he were a mere child caught with its hand in the cookie jar, while the large biker glared hatefully at her.

With a battle cry worthy of a warrior, the biker fisted his right hand and threw it at her, aiming to punch her in the face.

Vida, however, didn't even blink as she grabbed the fisted hand by the wrist and pulled his entire arm back.

Stepping back up a bit, she pulled his arm further back and held it there in a firm grip.

"And, if you will not leave a woman be out of respect, then you should do so for fear that she may be just like me." With those words, she broke his wrist with a single twist.

The screams that echoed in the diner couldn't be considered as human.

Luckily for Earl, there were no children present in his diner at that moment.

Otherwise, he would have gotten a lot of law suits for allowing such a violent display of self-defence in his establishment.

Nick, on the other hand, winced at the sound of bone breaking, making a face as blood started coming out of the man's mouth when he bit his lip from the pain.

Vida, on the other hand, looked completely unphased by the off putting sight.

"A little word of advice, gentlemen." Vida said as she elegantly bent down to pick up her purse that had fallen during her 'fight'.

"When a woman says 'no', she doesn't mean 'yes'. That ridiculous saying was invented by vain men who were unable to win the affections of a woman the first time around." She checked her purse for her belongings as she stood up and continued on speaking.

"The reasons why they even came up with such a saying are quite simple." She looked every male present in the eye and said.

"The first reason is that they are far too maddly 'in love' with a woman to let her go, obviously. While the second reason is that they lack the balls to take a woman's refusal like an _adult_ and move on."

Nick raised an eyebrow at her blunt honesty. He was kinda expecting that she was gonna sugar-coat it or something like that.

"If you all believe that a real man is the one that has the brawns, the money, the fame and women, than you couldn't have been more wrong. A real man takes responsibility for everything he says or does. He knows how to admit his mistakes and compensates for them. He sticks to what he believes in, respects the people around him and values them with all his heart. Those are the characteristics of a real man that women, _especially I_ , treasure in a nutshell. Not the ones who go around physically abusing those who are weaker than them, just because they have a penis to fill up their pants with." Vida finished her speech with a biting remark that made a few men in the diner wince.

"I've just showed you how someone who might _seem_ fragile could easily take down someone who _seemed_ quite strong. Had I been provoked a little more, I would have showed you how _lethal_ underestimating people really was." Taking a final glance at the whimpering man on the floor, she looked at his crew and added, "Here endeth the lesson." With that she walked back to Earl and opened up her purse.

"I'm very sorry about the row, Earl. After everything that has been going on these past few months, brawls in the middle of your diner are the last thing you need. Please, take this as my sincere apology. And I insist you take it, Earl. You better than anyone know that I will refuse to take 'no' for an answer." She pulled out a large wad of money and placed it on the counter.

Nick's eyes widened at the amount of money the brunette was placing in front of Earl.

 _'The annual salary of my parents makes a much smaller pile than that. She's carrying around a whole lot of money for someone who dropped by_ _for a visit_ _.'_ Nick thought as Earl begrudgingly accepted her money.

"I'm taking this only because I know how damn persistant you can be. Nice moves, by the way. I see you've mastered those tricks your old man and I taught ya." Earl said with a smug grin on his face.

Knowing that he helped train the young woman whom grew up to be a force to be reckon with, made pride flourish in the pit of his stomach.

Vida almost rolled her eyes at the man's (not-so-unwelcomed) praise.

"You sound almost surprised?" Vida raised an eyebrow at that.

Not to sound too confident or anything, but it wasn't like it was unexpected. When she sets her mind on something, she _achieves it_ _._ No matter what that _'it'_ was.

"Of course not. I taught you that move myself, even when Carlos objected. Seeing what happened just now, proves that I did the right thing after all. Hell, you even remind me of your grandma Vida from back in the day." Earl laughed as long lost memories came back to him.

"Man, she would've cut the bastard's balls off, had she been in your place, Doll." He started laughing harder, tears already forming in his eyes.

Vida smiled fondly, knowing all too well which memory came to the forefront of Earl's mind.

"I _can_ exercise _some_ restraint, Earl. I simply broke his wrist. And unintentedly, dislocated his shoulder in the process. Other than losing his pride, he will be alright in a few months time." Earl almost fell off his seat from his laughing fit.

He was laughing so hard that he had to hold on to the counter in order to stabilize himself.

Vida glared lightly at the old man. It were reactions like **_that_** that painted the wrong picture of her in the eyes of the public.

 _'They make me seem as if I'm some cold-blooded killer with no self-restraint.'_ She thought, her lips thinning at the mere image.

With a small sigh, Vida turned away from the laughing man and looked at the handsome newcomer.

He seemed a bit out of place with everything that was going on around him.

 _'Probably not used to the lively atmosphere Briarwood was known for. I noticed that he wanted to save me from that biker before Earl held him back. No one ever came to my rescue like that before. Usually, it's_ _me_ _who does the life-saving and rescuing.'_ Vida felt her heart palpitate at the odd feeling and she could have almost sworn that she felt something wierd course through her veins.

She took in a shuddering breath, so that she wouldn't do anything she might come to regret later on.

Counting to ten and back in order to get a firm grip over her emotions, Vida addressed the handsome raven.

"Thank you for wanting to come to my rescue earlier." She began, gaining Nick's attention.

(Which she wasn't entirely certain she wanted at the moment, seeing how having his eyes on her person was making it hard for her to breathe, let alone speak.)

"...It was very noble of you to do so. However, I am perfectly capable of defending myself." Vida almost cursed herself for almost stuttering like some hormonal school girl who's barely able to say her crush's name out loud.

To everyone else, she might seem as cold as a cucumber. But, to those who knew her extremely well, knew that she was being pulled out of her comfort zone.

 _'Which would explain why Earl's hawk-like eyes are fixed entirely on us.'_ She thought bitterly, trying to get herself under control.

"I meant no offence. I just couldn't stand by and watch someone assault a woman right in front of me. I wasn't raised like that." Vida searched for any trace of deceit on his face. Finding none, Vida felt her body move of its own free will, not even consulting her brain whatsoever.

Nick's breath hitched at the feeling of her warm lips on his skin.

And the only thing he was capable of thinking of at that moment was that her lips tasted like sweet cherries, since he could take in the scent easily due to their proximity.

She released a small sigh as she moved away from him, making Nick's body short-circuit and his brain reboot.

' _What's wrong with me? What in the world am I doing?!'_ Vida was kicking herself mentally, not being able to explain to herself why she suddenly decided to kiss a stranger for no apparent reason (well... there was a good reason, but still not valid enough for her!)

The only thing she could say is that there was just _something_ about him.

 _Something_ that had this strange magnetism, that makes her body do things she hadn't thought of beforehand.

Pulling away from him, feeling a little hot and confused, Vida managed to smile at the attractive boy.

"Never lose that sense of chivalry. It's a rare find in men these days." Vida said softly with a kind smile (ignoring her judgemental thoughts and split opinions at the moment).

Nick's cheeks began to heat up, while the skin where she kissed him buzzed pleasantly.

Sending both him and Earl a small smile, she began to walk towards the exit.

"Wait!" Nick called out to her, once he managed to gather his wits.

Vida turned to look at him, waiting to see what he would say.

"You still didn't tell me your name." Nick said, daring to look at her in the eyes.

Vida thought about introducing herself to him, but then decided against it. Where would the fun be in that?

"I know. Don't worry about that, though. We'll be meeting again soon enough, Nick. You're welcome for the breakfast, by the way." Winking at the young man, she continued towards the door, elegantly tossing her hair over her shoulder while walking around the groaning man on the floor.

Nick stared after the brunette as she disappeared from view.

He wasn't sure whether she was flirting with him or just messing around. Although, he had to admit he kinda liked playing the cat and mouse game with her.

It had that sense of mystery and danger that he'd always liked.

Earl cleared his throat, getting him to return back to reality.

"She's an interesting woman, ain't she?" He grinned.

"What do you mean by that?" Nick raised an eyebrow, as his brain worked out what the old man meant, "No, no, no, no. It's not what you think! It's not like that at all! We were just talking!" He tried to explain himself, however Earl seemed to believe otherwise as his grin only widened with each word that fell out of the young boy's mouth.

"Calm down, sonny. I was merely making an observation, is all. You don't need to explain yourself to me. I was young once too, I've been there a few times in the past myself. That's how I met my Gwen. Enjoy it while you still can, my boy. Just not too much, though." Earl teased the, now, red-faced male.

"This is so not happening right now." He groaned, taking a seat.

"I'm just teasing, sonny. You should ease up a bit." Earl took opened up another beer bottle and handed it to the boy.

"No, thanks. I should really stop drinking, since I'll be on the road later on." Nick politely refused the tempting offer and drank some water instead.

"Doll was right about you. You _are_ a rare find these days,sonny." The man praised, looking at the raven haired boy with admiration and respect.

"She wasn't talking about me. It was more in general." Nick smiled awkwardly, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the old man staring at him as if he were his long lost grandson or something.

"Oh, I know what Doll was talking about, sonny. I'm one of the people who actually get what's going on in her mind. I've watched her grow up into the beautiful young lady she is today, after all." Earl stated, taking a swing of his beer.

"Was she always this straightforward and mysterious?" Nick asked.

"Yup." Earl answered, "Slap a blonde wig on her and she'd pass for her grandma's younger doppelganger."

Nick didn't say anything after that, he was too busy pondering how to ask his next question.

"So, could you tell me her name?" Nick asked awkwardly, not being able to find a subtle way to ask Earl to tell him.

Earl eyed the boy for a couple of seconds and grinned, "I ain't telling you that, sonny. If she hadn't told you herself, then neither will I. Why spoil the fun? Things are finally starting to get a whole lot interesting around here."

"Well, I'm glad I'm such good entertainment for you city folk." Nick rolled his eyes heavenwards at the man.

Seriously, all he was asking for was her name, not her bank account.

Sighing in frustration, Nick took out his wallet to pay for his meal.

"Well, Earl, it was really nice meeting you and all, but I've got to get going now. My sister's waiting for me and I don't want her to worry too much about me." Nick offered the kind old man his money, however he refused to take it.

"There's no need for that, sonny. Doll already covered for you earlier. And even if she hadn't, I still wouldn't take it. Save every penny you have, my boy. It'll pay off someday. And from now on, whenever you stop by around here, everything you order is on the house." Earl said clasping the boy on the shoulder, walking him out the door.

"Thanks, Earl. It means a lot." Nick smiled at him, shaking his hand.

"Don't mention it, sonny. You're a good boy, it'd be a shame not to. Now, don't be a stranger and do stop by sometime. This old man could use some man talk every now and then." He chuckled, his eyes shinning with a youthful glow like no other.

"Sure thing, Earl. See ya around!" With that started to walk towards his bike.

"Oh, and one more thing, sonny!" Earl called out, making Nick turn to look at him.

"Don't let Doll scare ya too much. Underneath her 'Ice Queen' exterior, lies the biggest sweetheart the world has ever seen and known. You just need to listen closely and look beyond her icy walls to see that. When you do that, reading her will be easier than breathin'. Trust me on that one, my boy." Earl gave the boy some of his hard earned wisdom, leaning against the doorframe of his humble business.

Nick nodded and gave him the thumbs up, then turned around and made his way to his ride.

 _'Dear Lord, I think I've found the one who will knock Doll off her high horse. Alex and Mari will be jumpin' up and down with joy when I tell 'em about this later on.'_ Earl watched as the young man sat on his bike and started the engine.

Waving at him as he passed him by, Earl thought about the kind of relationship the two youngsters would have in the future.

 _'With their tempers and attitudes, I reckon they'll be exactly like Carlos and Vida when they were young. Won't lie, I'm really looking forward to see that.'_ Earl's shoulders shook with surpressed laughter as he thought about his dear friends and all the ridiculous arguments they had, then he roared with laughter as he pictured the young future couple arguing just like his best friends.

He clutched his stomach as he bent down, laughing like a crazy hyena, with tiny tears rolling down his wrinkled cheeks at the mental image.

Calming down from his fit, he straighten up and wiped his eyes from the stray tears. Looking down the road for one last time, Earl turned around and walked into his diner, letting the doors close behind him.

* * *

Vida walked inside Rock-Porium and, surprisingly, found it in a semi-disastrous state.

There were no customers in the store at that moment, and by the looks of things, neither was Toby.

(As laid back as the man was, he certainly wouldn't have allowed them to goof off and do nothing at all.)

Maddie was filming things on her trusty old camera, laughing at Chip's wild and childish antics.

Chip was, apparently, battling an invisible opponent or opponents in his own imaginary world, jumping around the store like a rabid rabbit while wielding a broom as if it were an actual sword and using his long-sleeved shirt as a cape.

(Luckily, he was wearing his uniform underneath.)

'That's one less worry off my list.' She thought sarcastically and turned towards the final member of the group, Xander Bly.

Unlike her sister and childhood best friend, Xander was doing what he does best. Absolutely nothing.

The music was pounding from the stereos from her station and Vida highly doubted that they were able to even hear each other speak over the loud racket.

The trash needed to be taken out, all the shelves needed to be cleaned up and restocked, the merchandise boxes needed to be taken to the storage room and the inventory needed to be done by the end of the day.

The only good thing about the complete state of the store were the locked cash register and the perfectly clean floor.

' _That was probably Maddie's attempt at keeping the boys in line. The store would have been cleaned from top to bottom, had she pressed them a little more. It's such a shame that she always goes easy on them in the end. Well, enough is enough. Time to put these boys back to work.'_ With those thoughts in mind, she strode towards her station and turned off the stereos.

As soon as the music stopped, the three turned around to look at her, finally noticing her presence.

"When did you get here, sis?" Maddie smiled at her baby sister, turning the camera on her, filming her less than impressed face.

"I just came in. The music was far too loud for any of you to hear me enter. As a matter of fact, it was far too loud for anyone outside the store to hear anything." She answered, giving the three a stern look, then looked at the coffee table, taking note of the empty soda cans and pizza boxes on it.

"I see that the three of you were having quite the party here. Any particular reason for the sudden celebration?" She asked, looking at them with an eyebrow raised.

"No particular reason, V. We were just chilling out and relaxing. The old bossman's taking a little R&R at the beach." Xander said as he walked over to the silently fuming brunette with a slice of pizza, offering it to her and when she gave him a flat look, ate it all up himself in one go.

"'Chilling out and relaxing', you say? May I ask from what exactly? The store's in a complete mess, there are no customers, there's work that needs to be done and the three of you are just goofing around as if you're at home." Vida scolded her friends, making them wince with each accusation.

"Sorry, sis." Maddie gave her sister an apologetic look, hoping it would soften her up like it usually does.

Vida pinched the bridge of her nose, resisting the urge to groan at the sad puppy face Maddie was making.

There wasn't a living being in the world who didn't know that Vida couldn't stay upset with her sister for too long. And there were times Maddie would use that to her advantage. Like right now, for example.

(She didn't know whether to be extremely proud or pissed off.)

"You needn't apologize to me, Maddie. I only wish you three would take your jobs a little more seriously. I'm the one who's on voluntary work here, and yet, it seems as if I'm the only one who cares about this store and its reputation." Vida looked at the three young adults with great disapproval.

 _'Honestly, I'm the youngest one in the group and yet, I feel like I'm the only mature person here.'_ Vida shook her head and took a deep breath, feeling a small migraine forming.

"Ah, V?" Chip called out to her hesitantly, raising his hand loosely up in the air.

"Yes, Chip, what is it?" Vida said in exasperation.

"Did you pick up my pizza orders, by any chance? I'm getting kinda hungry." He placed a hand on his grumbling stomach.

"You're still hungry?!" Xander looked at his ginger haired friend in shock.

"What do you want from me? I'm a growing boy." Chip defended himself, making Xander snort at his pitiful excuse as he sat down in his lounge chair.

"To answer your question, Chip. Yes, I picked up your pizza orders, they're in the backseat of my car. However, you can have your precious pizzas on your lunch break." Vida stated as she walked towards the counter, picking up the boxes on it.

Chip was about to protest, but the sharp look he got from Vida made him reconsider that action.

"Now, how about we get to work?" Even though Vida said it as a question, the others knew it was more of an order.

And if they valued their lives at all, they should do as they were told the first time she 'asked'.

In that moment, Toby came in the store, wet from head to toe. And judging by the snorkel on his face and the flippers on his feet, he must've went snorkeling while he was at the beach earlier.

"Toby! Hi, boss!" Xander quickly shot out of his seat and quickly walked over to their rock-n-roll loving boss.

Maddie and Chip followed Xander's example, albeit at a much more normal pace.

"Nice snorkel, bossman." Xander said, kissing up to the man as he rested his arm on his shoulder.

Toby quickly shrugged him off, obviously very upset for some reason.

"Weren't you supposed to be taking a day off today, Toby?" Chip asked, hoping that Toby wouldn't stay for too long.

"Yes, I was." His voice was muffled by the snorkel, so he took the tube out of his mouth.

Only to get frustrated with the whole thing, so he decided to simply take the snorkel off his head, and with a little difficulty he managed to do so, making his employees snicker.

"Yes, I was." He repeated, without any obstacles getting in the way.

"As a matter of fact, I was at the beach. Snorkeling with the little fishies. Then, one swam right up to my mask and looked at me with its big fish eyes..." He gesticulated wildly around his eyes with both hands.

"And said, _'Are your employees cleaning the store like they said they would?'_ " He squeezed his cheeks as he said the last part, making his face resemble that of a fish, which only made the trio laugh.

"Now, I have to go back to the water, to the reef, find the fish and say...no." He sounded a little disappointed as he walked passed the them and towards his office.

"Don't worry, boss. Relax, it's your day off. Take a breather. I'll gather the troops and assign them things to do. Like sweep the floor, stock the merchandise, take out the trash, etcetera etcetera." Xander didn't miss the opportunity to kiss up to their boss, trying to act as if he had everything under control.

"Oh, you mean, do the jobs I pay you three for?" Toby asked rhetorically as he looked at the brunette, "Guys!" He said in exasperation, entering his office and closing the door behind him.

"Alright, you heard the man! Snap to it!" Xander ordered the others, "Chip, grab a broom and sweep the store." Chip gave him an annoyed look, but did as he was told.

"Madison, take care of the merchandise." Maddie shook her head at her friend's behaviour. However, she too, did as he asked.

"And Vida, take out the trash. Snap, snap." The said brunette raised an eyebrow at the tall boy's bossy attitude, and then glared at him when he sat down in the seat she had found him in not even a minute ago.

 _'If he believes that he can walk away that easily after ordering us around to do the job he, too, has to do, then he has another thing coming.'_ Vida's lips thinned as she strode over to where Xander was lounging.

Standing beside him, she watched in mild disbelief as he went through some magazine he picked up from the floor, without so much as a care in the world.

Deciding that it was high time she made her presence known, she pulled the red pillow that was underneath his head.

"Are you quite comfortable, Xander? You seem like you could use a cup of coffee or a blanket perhaps?" She said sarcastically, with a fake smile on her face (the one usually seen on flight attendants).

"I could go for a cup. Thanks for offering, V. After that, you could join me, if you want to. There's more than enough room for the both of us. If we share some _personal_ space, that is." Xander wiggled his eyebrows in a seductive manner, while patting his lap in invitation at the same time.

Chip and Madison shared a pained look, wincing at the same time at what was about to accur.

They knew all too well, that their dear old friend, Xander Bly, was about to meet his end in a very painful and unorthodox way.

"100 bucks says he'll fly out of that chair with one good punch to the face." Chip whispered to Madison, waiting to see the bloodshed, while the ravenette squirmed at the image her brain supplied her with at Chip's description.

The only warning Xander got was the slight change in the air pressure around him, before he saw bright yellow stars swimming across his field of vision behind his eyelids.

Was it just him, or was his right ear ringing all of a sudden too?

"OUCH! Oh man, that looked like it hurt." Chip covered his own cheeks, as if he'd been the one who just got slapped.

Maddie winced in sympathy for the poor enamored Australian male.

She knew Xander would get into a lot of trouble with her baby sister one day for not choosing his words with great care.

Vida wasn't just some random girl on the street, you could walk up and tell something like _that_ to, after all.

Well, you could. However, you do that at the expense of your own life.

(Her sister was not only known for her intelligence and beauty, but also for her strength and right hook.)

Vida looked at the groaning boy before her in rage. There were times when Xander should really learn to keep his mouth shut.

She could handle his enormous ego and his womanizing ways on most days, but him implying _**that**_ kind of thing? And treating her like some cheap and wanton prostitute?

There was just no way in hell she would tolerate it! Not from him nor anyone else in the whole _universe_ for that matter!

"Now, that you're finally out of that chair, go do the job you are being paid to do." Vida swiftly turned on her heel and climbed the few steps to her station.

"And, If you don't know what those jobs are, I'll be happy to show you, buddy. You can start by taking out the trash. You're the one who made it, after all." Chip said as he helped the brunette stand up on his feet.

"Marvelous idea, Chip. The store's starting to smell like a pizza parlor." Vida commented lightly as she turned on the music.

"Thanks for the offer, mate. But, I think I'll go grab some ice. Plus, if I did all the work, who's gonna look after you guys? Trust me, supervising's a lot harder than it looks. There's a reason it's listed under one of great stress causes. It all happens in here." As Xander touched his tender cheek he pointed to his skull, wincing a bit at the stinging pain that accompanied the action.

"Well, if you prefer supervising so much, then you can supervise the action of getting the garbage bags from the store into the garbage bins outside. We can manage ten minutes without your presence in the store. That way, you'll be away from the 'causes' of your stress for a little while." Vida ordered, giving Xander a look that dared him to disobey.

Xander was about to say something to that, when a powerful earthquake hit Briarwood, making the entire store shake in its intensity.

"Everyone, get down! Now!" Vida called out loudly over the ruckus in the store, running towards her sister and pulling her down underneath the counter, seeing as the boys already found cover.

"Okay, nobody panic. We just need to do all the safety procedures." Toby yelled as he came out of his office.

Holding his phone in his hand, he was about to read what those procedures were, when another rumble hit, making him jump back in his office yelling "Get under a table!".

Chip, being Chip, got up and yelled dramatically, "It's the end of the world!"

Vida gave him a sharp look, which made him backpeddle.

"Just kidding." Was all he was able to say, before Vida grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled him down with all her strength.

 _'I hope this earthquake isn't strong enough to cause a tsunami. If the strength of this earthquake goes above 7.0, then there won't be enough time to evacuate the people near the beach nor the ones in the surrounding area.'_ Vida thought as she pulled out her cell phone from her pocket and sent a 911 message to a number she knew perfectly well by heart.

Putting the device away, Vida held her sister in a vice grip, praying that no one got hurt during this unfortunate ordeal. Starting from her family to all her fellow citizens.

Suddenly, the handsome stranger from earlier flashed in the forefront of her mind, making her heart pick up its speed.

 _'Hopefully, Nick still hasn't gone out on the road. There are a lot of twists and turns on the way here. He could get seriously hurt, if he's riding his motorcycle right now.'_ Vida pulled Maddie's head in the croak of her neck, trying to ease her worry for both the citizens of her city and the attractive raven she'd only just met.

* * *

 _Pre-Earthquake with Nick..._

Nick passed the thick forest, Briarwood slowly coming in sight as he drove on.

 _'In a few more minutes, I'll see Maggie and the kids again. It's been ages since I last saw them.'_ Nick smiled fondly at the thought of his crazy older sister.

She had been nagging him forever to come and visit her. And now that he's on his way there, she's been calling him non-stop to see where he was and if he needed anything.

As much as he loved his big sister, he felt slightly unnerved and uncomfortable by her constant coddling and babying.

He turned twenty-two a few months ago, he was an adult by all means. And, he didn't need his mother and sister looking after him as if he was some helpless teenager in desperate need of guidence.

The vibration of his cell phone broke him out of his thoughts. Pulling over, he took out the small device out of his pocket and checked the caller ID.

 _'Speak of the devil...'_ Nick rolled his eyes and mentally prepared himself for whatever lecture he was about to get.

"Hey, Maggie. What's up?" He answered.

 _"Nicky, where are you? You said you'd be here_ _before_ _afternoon. Please don't tell me you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. Tell me where you are, I'll come pick you up right now."_ As predicted, his sister went straight into her 'mommy mode'.

"Sis, relax, will ya? I'm on my way right now. I just stopped to get a refill and buy something to eat." Nick tried to reassure his sister, only to realize the huge mistake he had made.

 _"You mean to tell me that you didn't eat_ _ **anything**_ _before you went on the road?! What the hell's the matter with you, Nicholas? You could've gotten into an accident, God forbid! There's a very good reason why they say that breakfast is the_ _ **most important**_ _meal of the day!"_ Nick pulled the phone away from his ear when his sister went on ranting about 'today's youth' and the 'you need to be more responsible about your health' speech.

Humming to himself, Nick waited patiently for his sister to finish her lecture on health and responsibility.

 _'Knowing her it might take a while.'_ He rolled his eyes.

A few minutes later, the phone finally stopped vibrating from his sister's extremely palpable rage.

Seeing that it was safe to put the phone back against his ear, Nick started talking before she continued on with her previous thought.

"Feeling better now, sis?" He asked with a cheeky grin on his face.

 _"You weren't even listening to me, were you?"_ Maggie hissed at him.

"Nope. But hey, at least you got it all out now, right?" His grin widened as he imagined the vein on her forehead getting enlarged by the second.

 _"Get that smug grin off your face, hot shot. You're in for one hell of a lecture when you get your ass over here."_ Nick smiled a genuine smile this time.

His sister knew him all too well, just like his mother. His two out of three most precious women in the whole world knew him so well, that sometimes he didn't even need to voice his thoughts.

And as happy as he was about that fact, Nick knew someday it would come back to bite him in the ass.

 _"...and how long will it be until you get here?"_ He broke out of his thoughts at the question.

"About two hours, give or take. Don't worry, I'll be there soon enough." He reassured her once again.

Nick had a funny feeling he'll be doing that a lot during his stay in Briarwood.

 _"I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy. I just missed my baby brother so much! There are just so many things I want to talk to you about, besides the standard things, of course."_ Nick sighed, knowing already what the 'standard' things would be.

"I miss you too, sis. Hell, I even miss Lizzie and her celebrity fangirling antics." Nick shook his head as he said the one thing he thought he would never ever say in his entire life.

 _"I bet she'll be very happy to hear that, Nicky."_ Maggie laughed with mirth.

"Did she get into trouble again?" Nick grinned at the thought.

His younger sister had a bad habit of looking up local celebrities and 'checking' them up online.

 _"She got caught in the hotel room of her favorite supermodel last month. Luckily for our sister, the supermodel decided against calling the police. She let her off with a friendly warning and a selfie. Lizzie's been skipping around town ever since."_ His sister sighed at that, while he laughed histerically.

"Somethings never change, huh?" He grinned, imagining the face his older sister was probably making.

 _"Oh, believe me, somethings will change. Trust me on that. But enough about us, little brother. Tell me, do you need anything. Clothes? Shoes? Or anything like that? I have some grocery shopping to do and then, I'll be taking the boys for a mini shopping spree later on."_ Nick couldn't help but chuckle at the whining he heard over the phone.

He couldn't blame the poor kids. Maggie was one hell of a crazy shopper.

"No, sis. I don't need anything. But, thanks for offering."

 _"Okay. But, you have no idea what you're missing out on. Briarwood has the best clothing stores around."_ Nick could almost see the starstruck look on Maggie's face as she said that.

"I'll take your word for it, sis." Nick checked the time on his cell phone.

 _"Seriously though, Nicky. Briarwood's a very good city to live in. There are lots of good schools around here, well-paying decent jobs on almost every corner, not to mention all the good people who live here too. I bet you even might find some very good friends here. Or maybe even a girlfriend. There are so many pretty girls here. Who knows? You might even met someone who will be able to make your head turn."_ A pair of rich emerald green eyes and chocolate brown hair flashed through his mind at that.

He hummed in response, taking out the stained handkerchief that he pocketed just before he left Earl's diner.

Nick couldn't explain why he took the brunette's handkerchief exactly, he just took it with him.

At that moment, he just thought that he ought to return it to her. Maybe even use it as an excuse to walk up and talk to her, if he saw her around town that is.

He wasn't gonna lie and say that she hadn't gained his interest at all during their short encounter at the diner.

He'd be either gay or an idiot if he hadn't felt anything for a beauty like her. Even if it's just for a brief and passing moment.

And even if they never saw each other again (Nick ignored the slight pang of disappointment at the mere thought), it would be a pity to just throw away such beautiful craftsmanship.

Despite being covered in purplish stains, the white fancy handkerchief looked really expensive.

 _'And smells just like her too.'_ Nick added mentally, raising the silk cloth to his face and breathing in the sweet vanilla scent.

 _"Nicky? Are you there?"_ He jumped at the sound of his sister's voice.

He forgot that he was still talking to her over the phone.

"Sorry about that, Maggie. I got kinda lost in thought here. What were you saying again?" He asked, putting the handkerchief back into his pocket.

 _"Whatever got you into such a pensive mood must've been really important. Especially, if you completely tuned me out when I started talking about your favorite food."_ Maggie remarked with a smug tone of voice.

Nick rolled his eyes at that. He should have known that there was no way she would've let things go for once.

"It's nothing, Maggie. Now, as much as I love talking to you, I need to get going if you want me to get there in time for lunch. And while we're at it, stop calling me on every 20 minutes. It won't make me get there any faster. Love you and see you soon." With that he hung up the phone, before she went over the safety procedures and such.

Yes, he knew it was very rude of him, but he really had no choice. His mother and sisters don't know the meaning of a short chit-chat. Plus, the phone bill would be huge, and she has two little boys to look after.

Starting his bike, he drove off, with no intention of stoping to chat this time around. He just wanted to get there already without wasting his energy and precious time.

It was peaceful and quiet for the next half hour, until a powerful tremor made everything around him shake.

Nick tried to gain control of his bike, but it was no use. The strength of the earthquake threw him off balance and he fell off his bike, landing in the thick grass beside the road.

For the next ten minutes, Nick held onto his bike and hoped that his sisters and nephews were alright.

A couple of minutes later, the world stilled once more.

Waiting for a few more seconds just to be certain it was safe to get up, Nick slowly pushed himself up on his elbows and got up on his feet.

Quickly taking his cell phone out of his pocket, he dialed his sister's number, hoping that everything was alright on their end.

 _"Nicky? Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need an ambulance?"_ His sister immediately fired away.

"I'm fine, Maggie. A little shaken up, but nothing I can't walk away from. How about you? Are the boys okay? And Liz? Is she with you?" Nick ran his hands through his dark hair, fear and worry gripping his heart firmly.

 _"Oh thank God, you're alright! We're all okay, no wounded over here."_ She tried to laugh it out, though he could hear the panic and worry in her tone.

Nick let out a breath of relief at that. He'd really been worried about them.

They were all alone and had no one close to turn to in case of severe emergencies. He was really glad they were all okay.

"I'm really glad you guys are okay. That was one nasty earthquake." Nick commentated, looking over at his bike, which took the worst of the fall.

 _"I already told you, Nicky, we're fine. You're the one we're worried about. Are you sure you don't want me to come pick you up? I could be there in a few minutes time."_ Maggie tried to convince her brother once again.

Nick had no other choice, but to accept his sister's offer to give him a ride back to her place.

And just as he was about to answer her, a loud honking pierced through the air.

Looking up, Nick saw a large red truck coming his way.

"Ahoy there, sonny! Need a ride?" A very familiar voice called out over the loud engine.

Nick smiled broadly at the sight of Earl waving at him out the truck's window.

"About that ride sis, I think it won't be necessary. A friend of mine will help me out. See you soon." Nick said as he waved back at Earl.

 _"You already made a friend?! Is it anyone I know? What's his or her name? How old are they? It better not be some cheap tramp again! Or else I swear to God, Nicholas Henry Russell, I'll give your sorry ass a beating it'll not forget in a billion lifetimes!"_ Maggie hissed, going into her 'mommy mode' again.

"You'll met him someday soon, sis. Now, I need to get going, okay? Love you and I'll see you soon. Bye!" Nick quickly hung up the phone and walked over to Earl, who parked his truck in front of him.

"Earl, you're a lifesaver. Thank you so much for coming." Nick gave the old man an one armed hug, which the man happily returned.

"Don't mention it, sonny! Although, you shouldn't be thanking _me_. To be completely honest with ya, I thought you'd be in Briarwood by now." Earl then grinned a cheeky smile at him.

"Your guardian angel gave me a call a few moments ago. Told me to go and check up on ya. Good timing too, you'd be stuck out here otherwise." He turned to study the state Nick's bike was in, while the young raven looked at him, puzzuled.

"Now, sonny. How about we get this thing in the back of the truck?" Earl suggested, pulling the bike up.

Nick went over to help him out, and together they put his bike in the back of the large truck.

"Come on, sonny, get in! I've got a couple of beers with your name on 'em." Earl winked as he climbed up the steps to the driver's seat.

Nick smiled at the kind old man and took the seat next to him. Earl started the engine and turned on some loud country music on the radio.

"Next stop: Briarwood." Earl tossed a can of beer at the young man and started driving down the road.

* * *

 _Back at Rock-Porium..._

The group got out of their hiding places a couple of minutes after the shaking had stopped.

"Is it over?" Maddie asked, worried that the worst way about to come.

"I'm alive? I'M ALIVE!" Chip cried out in utter happiness, relieved that he and his best friends were okay.

Maddie looked around the store and felt the urge to groan at its newfound state.

"Oh, great. The store's even messier than before." She couldn't help but comment, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You wouldn't think that would be even possible." Chip commentated, looking around the store as well.

Vida paid them little to no mind as she tapped away on her cell phone, looking at every possible report and warnings about oncoming natural disasters. Namely, tsunamis and such.

"Is everyone okay?" Toby rushed out of his office to check on his employees/friends.

"We're okay, boss. The store, not so much." Xander walked up to the group, taking off his skater helmet.

Toby sighed at the mess around him and tried to find his inner zen, before he lost his mind.

Maddie patted his shoulder sympathetically and turned to look at her little sister who was busy doing something important on her phone, looking completely untouched by what's happened to them.

(As if it was a regular occurrence in her young life.)

There were times Madison seriously envied her little sister. Take now, for example.

While she, Maddie, was shaking on the inside and probably even on the outside, Vida was as steady as a rock. Ready to bravely face whathever catastrophe heading her way with style and grace.

 _'I wish I could be as brave as her. I mean, shouldn't_ _ **I**_ _be the one to jump infront of_ _ **her**_ _in dangerous situations? I_ _ **am**_ _her older sister, after all. So, why can't I be her savior for once? Why am I such a baby?'_ Maddie frowned, feeling a little bitter about herself as she continued to stare at her sister while she worked on her cell.

As if sensing that Maddie needed a pick-me-up, Vida glanced up and held eye contact with her sister for a few seconds, before walking up to her.

"Are you alright, sis? You aren't hurt, are you?" Vida gave her a quick once over, checking for any external injuries she might've missed when they got out of their hiding place.

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about something." Maddie responded with a small smile, feeling very guilty at the childish bitterness she felt towards herself when she saw the worry in Vida's veridian orbs.

Vida didn't believe her, of course. However, she would let it go for the time being.

"Alright, I won't push this any further. For now, at least." She gave her sister a look that promised a long conversation that would follow when they get back home, while Maddie almost rolled her eyes at Vida's overprotective nature.

"I need to step outside for minute to make some calls, I'll be right back." Placing a gentle peck on her sister's cheek, Vida glided towards the door, her cell phone in hand.

Maddie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing that Vida would get busy during the day so that she wouldn't get on her case later on.

Too bad it was all just wishful thinking on her part. Her sister never let anything go unfinished or unsaid. Especially, if it had something to do with her.

"There's too much stuff that needs to get done and it's not even lunch yet." She heard Toby groan into his hands.

"Don't worry, Toby. We'll get this place back in shape in no time. The most important thing is that the worst is over." Xander comforted the older brunette.

"Haven't you learned by now to never say that out loud, Xander?" Vida said, walking towards them.

"Why not? I'm just trying to help poor Toby over here. It's good to be optimistic sometimes, V." Xander defended himself, fighting off the urge to gaze into her eyes for too long.

"True as that may be, might I remind you of your unnatural ability to bring bad luck whenever you try to be 'optimistic', Xander?" Vida raised an eyebrow, remembering all the times she had to come and get him and Chip out of whatever trouble they had gotten themselves into.

Xander was about to protest against her claim, but Chip chuckled and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

"It's kinda true, dude. You didn't get the nickname 'Bad Luck Xander' for nothing, you know. You're like the living embodiment of bad luck, dude." Xander glared at his ginger haired friend, while Maddie giggled behind her hand.

"I'm am not bad luck!" He protested, puffing his chest and then grinning mischievously at them, "If anything, I'd say that I always get..."

"Finish that sentence, Alexander Bly, and there won't be a doctor in the world who'd be able to piece you back together." Vida quickly interjected.

There were just some aspects of her friends' lives that she did **_NOT_** want to see, hear or know about at all!

And Xander's _'_ _love life_ _'_ was certainly at the very top of those things. It was right next to her brothers' and her parents'!

(The mere thought of it made her want to disinfect her entire skull, before any kind of image could take form.)

"Jealous, V? 'Cuz, if you want me _that_ much, all you have to do is say the word. Just be gentle with me, though. It's been awhile since I tamed somebody." Xander wiggled his eyebrow and directed a perverted grin at the object of his affections.

Chip and Toby immediately moved away from Xander, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

They didn't even get a chance to blink before Xander was on the ground counting the stars once again, with a crimson red handprint on his other cheek.

"Ouch." Toby said, wincing and hoping that the poor boy was still capable of speaking properly after that.

Maddie helped the boy up, not feeling sorry for him at all this time around.

He should've known better than to irritate Vida after his previous comment!

"Toby, you'll need to close the music store for a few hours until this mess is taken care of. We couldn't possibly receive a costumer in a state like this." Vida said to her rock'n'roll loving boss, gesturing at all the boxes, CDs and papers around them.

Noticing that he was about to become an unnecessary problem and start behaving like a spoiled child, Vida stopped him before he even opened his mouth to speak.

"It will only be for a few short hours, Toby. It won't take too long. I promise we'll take care of this mess before evening. And if that doesn't put a smile on your face, than the fact that a large tsunami isn't destroying everything and everyone in its path like it could have been, should." She gave him a look a parent would give to a petulant child, practically daring him to be a smartass.

Sighing in defeat, Toby nodded his head and gave Vida the keys to the store.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Vida added, patting him gently on the shoulder as she walked him towards the entrance of the store.

"Now, why don't you go home, get some sleep and stop by later on?" She requested rather than suggested.

"That's a good idea. I could really go for a nap right now. Maybe even call my mom." Toby smiled and waved at the others, leaving his store Vida's more than capable hands.

Closing the door after he left, Vida turned to face her dear friends.

"Alright, everyone...Yes, Chip?" She asked when the said male raised his hand.

"It's lunch time and we're kinda hungry." His stomach growled in agreement with him.

Vida sighed, taking note of the looks of the other two and nodded her head.

"Very well. We'll take a lunch break before we begin. However, after we eat, there will be no more slacking off from either one of you." She gave them each a stern look and walked out, followed by the others.

"Vida, have mom and dad called you yet?" Maddie walked up to her sister, remembering that she hadn't checked in with their parents during all the fuss.

"I called them before they could get a chance to do so. They're both alright. They were in a meeting when the earthquake had hit the city. They were more worried about all of us than they were for themselves. Especially, mom." Vida finished and shared a knowing look with Maddie at that.

"We're gonna be squeezed to death when we come home for dinner, aren't we?" Maddie sighed, remembering the last time there was a crisis in the city.

"With any luck, Michael will be able to hold her off for a little while, seeing how he's been away for three months." Vida almost prayed for that to happen.

As much as she adored her mother, her mother had the habit of giving the most painful bear hugs known to mankind.

Vida knew that she should be very grateful for even _having and knowing_ her mother, for not everyone in the world was as lucky as she and her siblings were.

But growing up with the constant hugging, kissing and having their mother breathing down their necks all the time was a little too much sometimes.

"Michael's coming home?" Maddie's heart fluttered at the thought of seeing their big brother again.

"He called me this morning to give me the good news. Mom and dad must've gone out by then, since no one answered the phone at home when he called. Mom doesn't know he will be in time for dinner and I plan to keep it that way." Vida grinned and winked at her sister, already conspiring against her dear brother.

Even though, Vida had missed her big brother very much, she still hasn't forgotten about his little prank before he left.

And just like all little sisters, she was planning on evening the score tonight at dinner.

Maddie shook her head and wondered whether her big brother and little sister would ever outgrow their pranking phase.

"Josh and I better be on our toes then. Who knows what you two might do tonight." She shivered when she saw the mischievous glint in Vida's eyes, already fearing the worst.

Secretly though, she kinda enjoyed their little games. They could be quite funny, entertaining and amusing sometimes.

It was like watching an endless episode of Tom and Jerry.

Chip and Xander quickly took the pizza boxes out of Vida's car and started eating, while Vida took out her laptop and started working on it in the backseat of her car.

"From the amount of boxes I saw earlier when I came in, one would think that you two wouldn't even have space to put more food in." Vida commented, pausing what she was doing to look at the two males in slight disgust as they devoured their pizzas like wild animals.

"We're growing boys. We need all the energy we can get." Chip responded without looking away from his box of pizza, while Xander nodded his head in agreement to his statement.

Vida simply shook her head at them, not even dignifying them with a response and turned back to her laptop.

Maddie smiled at them, feeling extremely happy and content being with the wonderful people she couldn't imagine her life without.

"Hey, Madds! You hungry? There's enough pizza slices for all of us." Chip called out, noticing that the ravenette wasn't with them.

"Man! These are soooo good! I could eat these for the rest of my life." Xander moaned as the delicious spices mixed on his tongue.

"I know what you mean, dude! Gephetto's pizzas are the bomb!" Chip declared with his mouth full.

"Swallow your food before you speak, Christopher Thorn. We don't need nor want a repeat of the chocolate cake incident from last month." Vida chided, not even looking away from her laptop.

Xander snickered at Chip as the freckled teen did as he was told without complaint, only to get hit with a greasy piece of pepperoni by the said teen.

This, of course, caused Xander to retaliate, which made Chip strike back as well.

And their 'fight' went on for a few moments...until Vida suddenly appeared behind them, pulled them both by the ears and gave them a harsh reprimand for throwing food around.

 _'I wouldn't change them for anything in the whole world.'_ Maddie thought with a bright smile on her face, walking up to her friends and joining in with their laughter.

The young men and women were so content and happy, not even aware of the danger that was lurking on the horizon as a lone figure started to materialize in the forest on the highest mountain, surrounded in dark purple lights that came from an odd-looking circle.

In a few short seconds, a tall and muscular being appeared wearing an ancient black and purple full body armor.

From a different perspective, the armor-clad person resembled some kind of ancient knight from old fairytale stories.

Too bad that this knight wouldn't be the one that would save the princess or slay the dragon.

Quite the contrary, this knight would be the one to trap the princess and force the dragon to obey him.

As he walked towards the edge of the mountain he was on, he released an evil chuckle.

"After all these years...I'm finally free." He said, looking at the large city bellow him, already marking it as his first conquest after a long time of being imprisoned.

* * *

 _Some unknown place..._

"Oh, no. There's a crack on the gate, the darkness has been unleashed." A feminine voice said, fear and worry taking root in her stomach as a large book opened showing her symbols that were supposed to be long forgotten.

"What're we going to do, aunt Udonna?" A softer voice whispered.

"What must be done, child." The woman answered, looking at the five shining objects on the table next to her.

"It's time for the next generation to step forth and write down a new destiny for us all." She looked back at the book and closed it with a soft thump.

* * *

 _"After narrowly escaping death, the human species cope with it in various different ways."_ Maddie stated, pointing the camera at herself before turning it towards the others.

(Completely ignoring the flat look Vida gave her when she said 'escaping death'.)

 _"Some use physical activities..."_ She pointed the camera at Xander, who was doing some of his 'cool' moves on his skateboard, trying to look like a 'bad boy' as he winked at her.

 _"Some continue on with their work. Which more often than not, shortens their sister's lifespan."_ Maddie turned the camera to Vida, who was too busy writing something down in her notebook, sitting like a perfect lady.

 _"And some eat."_ Finally, she turned towards the last member of their group, Chip, who took a large bite of his pizza.

 _"Tell me, Chip Thorn, what type of pizza are you eating?"_ Chip looked up at her as he chewed and showed her his pizza slice.

"Anchovies, pickles, pineapple, cheese, chili, pepperoni and chocolate marshmallow." He listed with his mouth full, picking up the marshmallow and adding it into the mix he had in his mouth.

 _"Ewww."_ Maddie made a face at that as she turned the camera back to herself, _"A fine example of the non-human species."_ She smiled at the camera.

And just as she was about to say something else, a cry for help prevented her from doing so.

"Somebody, please help me. Please, I need help. Someone, anyone, please." An old man dressed like a fisherman called out to the people walking in the park just across from Rock-Porium, his eyes helplessly begging for someone to come to his aid.

The group of youngsters were immediately on alert as soon as the man came into their view.

Vida, being Vida, hadn't wasted any time getting out of her car and walking towards the old man.

Her friends followed after her, of course. It was almost like it was a silent agreement between them.

A small group of people crowed around the old man as he started talking.

"It's my brother." He began, "We were walking down the road, when someone just came out and grabbed him." He explained, looking each and every person in the eyes. Particularly, Vida and the group.

"I fear the worst. It's not too far. Just out of town. They pulled him into the woods." As soon as he said that, people started to shake their heads and whispered amongst themselves, some even walked away from the scene.

"Imagine that, V. He's asking someone to go into the woods." Xander whispered to Vida.

When the girl didn't respond, Xander tilted his head to get a look at her.

"V?" He tried to get her attention once more. Though, he knew it was a lost cause. She had _that_ look in her beautiful emerald irises.

She was actually planning on going with the old man to find and save his brother.

"Won't anyone help me?" The old fisherman tried to convince them.

Vida stepped out before the man and bravely declared.

"I'll help you." She said at the same time as someone else.

 _...Someone whose voice was so achingly familiar._

She looked around for the other person, almost believing she was hearing things.

At least that was what she thought, until the people closest to the one who spoke up in tandem with her turned around to reveal a handsome young man fixing his motorcycle by a tree just across from the music store.

Vida felt her heart jump at the sight of him. Especially, at the sight of him without his black leather jacket on!

"I could use a break." He added, getting up from the ground.

"Thank you. Both of you. Truly, thank you." The old man expressed his gratitude after a few seconds, walking over to the raven.

The raven registered what the old man said and looked up at him, until his eyes saw the familiar face behind the man and felt his breath hitch.

He hadn't expected to see her so soon. Or at all, for that matter.

(Although, he can't say that he was disappointed or saddened by that fact.)

Putting on his leather jacket, he held eye contact with the beautiful brunette, not even noticing Xander walking over to him.

"Hey, I'm Xander." He introduced himself with a friendly smile on his face.

Before Nick even had the chance to introduce himself, Xander continued talking.

"You're new around here, aren't ya? You're probably not aware of all the facts. And there's just one. You go into those woods, you don't come out." He warned the newcomer, hoping he would listen to his advice.

Vida almost rolled her eyes at that. She was starting to get tired of that ridiculous old superstition.

She ventured into those forests a million times before and she made it out perfectly safe and unharmed.

"Heard about it." Nick replied, recalling all the stories his sisters told him about Briarwood's haunted forests and the missing people case.

"Xander, would you please stop spreading that ridiculous rumor? It does more harm, than it does good. Which is something we don't need at the moment." Vida said, walking over to the two.

"Rumors, V?" Xander looked at her with wide eyes.

"They aren't rumors, they're facts. Just look at all the people who went missing." Xander pointed out, "Face it, V. Whoever goes into those woods is never seen again." The people around them quickly agreed with Xander.

"If that's the case, then how do you explain me being here with you right now? I've been into those woods myself multiple times before. As a matter of fact, I took a stroll there just this morning." She countered back.

"Vida!" Maddie cried out in shock, appalled by what she heard.

There's a reason they've been told to stay away from the woods at all costs! Not only was it dangerous, but it was also a crime scene!

Maddie couldn't believe that her sister would even think about going into such a dangero...oh, who was she kidding?

Of course, Vida would do just the opposite of what she was told! It's basically second nature to her!

Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling her head pulse from her baby sister's lack of self-preservation.

No one could give an appropriate answer to that. Not even Xander, who was looking for ways to argue against her placing herself in harm's way.

(Which, considering who she was, was quite a feat.)

"Vida, those people disappeared during the night." Xander counter back, feeling as he was pointing out the obvious.

"And just when do you believe I went there?" She gave him a look, promptly wiping the small smug look of his face.

"Certainly, not during daytime, I hope. When I would be an open target to whomever is behind their disappearance. Me being there this morning would be the second time I went there during the day since the first disappearance." She added, gaining the confused looks from all the people around her, from Nick and her friends as well.

"But, how were you able to look for them during the night? The forests are so thick, you wouldn't be able to see your own nose, let alone anything else." Chip asked the question everyone wanted to know the answer to.

Vida looked at everyone around her, taking note of their puzzled expressions and briefly wondered if she was the only one with a functioning brain in her city.

"I used high quality night vision goggles with thermal imaging. I was able to see everything around me with perfect clarity in a full 360 degrees an entire square yard away." She clarified, hoping that they could piece everything else on their own.

"That's so cool! I wanna come with you next time you go during the night!" Chip declared loudly with a bright smile on.

Vida feeling that the matter was settled, turned to Nick.

"When I said that we'd be meeting again soon, I hadn't expected it'd be _this_ soon." She smiled at him.

"My thoughts exactly." Nick smiled back at her.

"You two know each other?" Xander asked, looking at the two of them.

"We met not too long ago at Earl's diner. He was there when I stopped by for a visit. We even had a short chit-chat over some _breakfast_." Vida answered as a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, not taking them off the raven for even a second.

Nick rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little hot under the collar from all the attention she was giving him.

Maddie looked at her little sister with both eyebrows raised, gobsmacked by her odd behavior.

 _'Is she... flirting with him?'_ She wondered, weirded out by the sudden discovery.

Not that it was bad or anything like that. It's a good thing. A very good thing, as a matter of fact. Just a little unusual to see her sister showing interest towards the opposite gender.

Not that she was a homosexual (and Maddie would've been perfectly okay with it if she was) or an asexual.

But whenever the subject of love and dating was brought up, Vida would always say she was far too busy for something like that and that she had work to do.

And now, seeing her smile and engage in a flirtatious banter with a handsome stranger was a bit... well, for the lack of a better word, strange.

 _'Okay, it feels surreal seeing her like this. I'm not sure whether she really likes him or if she's just messing around for the heck of it. But, there's definitely something big going on here.'_ Maddie thought as she closely observed her sister's behavior.

"Yeah, thanks for that, by the way." Nick said, gaining some of his cool.

"You're quite welcome, stranger. I hope you enjoyed the rest of it." Vida said with a cheeky grin.

"I did. It was very delicious. Thanks. Again." Nick smiled awkwardly. Feeling like he was repeating himself, Nick tried a different approach.

"Well, I'll see you around, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and turned to the old man.

"Oh yes, you will. I hope you didn't forget that I'm coming along as well." Vida said, making him turn to face her again.

"Vida." Maddie whispered to her sister, her tone alone told Vida that Maddie desperately wanted her to reconsider her decision.

"Oh, that's right. Sorry about that, it completely slipped my mind. Although, now, I guess you have to tell me your name." Nick knew it was a long shot, but it was worth the shot.

"Unless, of course, you **_want_** me to call you 'Doll' the whole time we're there." He pressed on when she raised an eyebrow at him.

Vida thought of all the things she could say to get him to blush scarlet red. But then again, it would be a bit rude to leave him hanging again, **and** she would be on the gossip mill for months if she added something 'risque' to that.

And that's the last thing she needed at the moment. More ass kissers and 'goody-two-shoes' to ring on her doorbell. Wouldn't that just be delightful?

"Only Earl's allowed to call me that, stranger. You'll need to find some other nickname for me. Until you do, though..." Vida gave him a subtle wink and extended her right hand forward.

"...I'm lady Valerie Anne Rocca. You may call me Vida, though." Nick smiled, taking her dainty hand in his larger one and shook it like a proper gentleman.

(Admiring how soft and cool it was compared to his warm and calloused one.)

"It's nice to meet you, Vida. You kinda already know my name." This time Nick wanted to be the cheeky one, giving Vida (finally, he got her name!) one of his charming smiles.

Which didn't go unnoticed by Vida. Nor Xander and Maddie for that matter.

Xander, who stood next to them, almost snorted at the cockiness Nick displayed.

While Maddie, who saw the interaction, felt that a lot of trouble would be coming from the two males in the future. And her baby sister would be in the center of the whole thing.

Now, she wasn't sure whether to be proud of her sister or afraid for her emotional health.

Proud, because Vida had two handsome men in the palms of her hands.

And afraid, because if things go south,...well, it would be very bad. For everyone. Especially, Vida.

Vida, however, paid no mind to the silent war that went inside Xander's head or the cold worry that gripped her sister's heart, as she grinned up at Nick.

"Yes, it's very good to know the name of the man who doesn't know the proper etiquette of introduction with a noblewoman." Vida knew it was a little mean, but there was no way she was gonna let him get the upper hand.

"What?" Nick asked, his face morphing into one of confusion.

(Which made him look kinda cute. In Vida's opinion, at least.)

"Usually, when I introduce myself to someone, the other party kisses either my hand or ring and bows down to me. It **_is_** common courtesy among nobles, after all." Vida had a serious expression on her face, while internally she was choking with laughter at the gobsmacked face Nick was making at the moment.

The poor guy never looked more nervous. He even looked ready to actually kneel before her!

(Vida won't lie, though. She would laugh long and hard, if he did that!)

Maddie giggled a little behind her hand, catching on with her sister's humor.

It was so wrong, but also kinda funny on the other hand too. Mostly, everyone knew who they were. So, meeting new people was always refreshing for both of them.

Nick was about to apologize to her and kiss her hand, but then he caught sight of the grin that was trying to break free on her face.

Figuring out that she was busting his balls, he gave her a flat look.

"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny." He pulled his hand back, almost sighing in relief as the mischievous brunette snickered at him.

 _'I can't believe I almost made a fool of myself in front of all these people. If Lizzie was here right now, she would've laughed at me so **hard**. She wouldn't have let me forget this for the rest of my life.' _Nick thought, thanking all his lucky stars for being able to avoid what would've been the biggest embarrassment of his life.

"Now, If you had your fun, can we get going?" Nick asked impatiently, feeling a little awkward at being the center of all the attention.

Vida was about to say something, but Xander quickly interjected.

"You're still planning on going?" He asked incredulously.

"The guy needs help. And nobody in this town seems to care." He said, looking at Xander pointedly as he did, which caused a spark of irritating to raise in the aforementioned male.

"I care. Very much at that." Vida jumped in to defend her city (and _most_ of its people) and before Xander said something inappropriate.

"No offense, V. But, you do know that you're going into a thick forest in an outfit that's not exactly meant for hiking. Or woods." Chip chimed in, noticing Vida's outfit for the first time.

(Xander and Nick looked at the brunette's attire as well, staring a bit too long at her legs, which made Maddie clear her throat, getting them to snap out of their daze.)

Vida boldly moved her hands to the back of her skirt and pulled a few things.

The boys, being the gentlemen that they were, quickly looked away or covered their eyes, prompting Vida to give them her infamous 'are you that stupid?' look.

She removed the leather cloth around her waist to reveal black leather capri pants.

Then, she neatly folded the black material, gave it to her sister and bent at the knees, pulling the pants down her legs (in a way some might define as seductive).

Raising up, she gave the boys a challenging look as she was now wearing black leather pants instead.

"Satisfied?" She asked sarcastically, moving out of the group.

"Let's head out. We're wasting precious time." Nick nodded his head and followed her as the crowd dispersed.

"Wait!" Chip quickly called out, making the group of three turn around.

"I wanna go with you guys too. I've always wanted to go on a dangerous quest. Besides, the more the merrier. And, we might cover more ground that way too." He said excitedly, hoping that they would allow him to join them.

Vida gave him a small smile and nodded at him, giving him her permission.

"Alright! Sweet!" Chip laughed, pumping his fists up.

"Alright, let's go." Nick said as they turned towards the forest.

"Vida, wait!" Maddie stopped them this time, feeling that as Vida's older sister, she should try to reason with her before she got hurt...or worse.

"You can't seriously plan on going unprotected. What if you run into trouble on your way there? What happens then, huh? I think we should just call the police and let them handle this." Maddie hoped she got through to her sister's thick head.

"She does have a point, V." Chip said, slowly coming down from his adrenaline high.

However, Vida remained completely unphased by Maddie's warning.

"It will take forever until the police gets here and even longer until they send a search party. The sooner we leave, the better his brother's odds of survival are." She pointed out, making a sad look cross on her sister's face.

Deciding to ease her worry a bit, Vida did the one thing that would (oddly enough) calm her a bit.

"And besides,..." She continued on, reaching behind her for something.

"...I'm always armed." Vida pulled out a silver and black hand gun that resembled the Desert Eagle.

The men around her jumped away from her, shocked that she would carry such a thing around town.

"VIDA!" Maddie cried out in shock, jumping away in fright.

She didn't know her sister had a gun. Heck, she didn't even know she _owned_ one. Let alone, carried one around like that!

(Though, a small part of her kinda saw that one coming.)

Vida ignored the startled looks of her dear friends and turned towards the old man, pointing the gun at him, making him cry out in fear.

"Let's get one thing straight here," She began coldly.

"You lead us on or do anything I find suspicious, I won't hesitate to take you out. Do you understand me?" Her eyes hardened so much, they could make the thickest ice melt in seconds flat.

"V, he's an old man. What harm could he possibly do to us?" Chip tried to slowly calm down the wild tornado that was his best friend.

"Never underestimate your opponent. In cases like this, I don't even trust my own shadow." Vida stated, not looking away from the old man.

"I'll be watching you closely from here on out. Make one wrong move and God be with you. You and I will take the front." She lowered her gun and placed it back into its place.

"Nick, Chip, you two will stay behind me. At the first sign of trouble, run. No stopping or turning around." She ordered, giving them both a stern look.

"But, V..." Chip started, before Vida interrupted him.

"That wasn't a request, Christopher Thorn. There are twelve people who'd gone missing recently, leaving little to no trace behind. I'm not about to add two more people onto that list, if I can do anything about it. Now, let's go. We're wasting our time." Vida ordered once again, walking away with the old man in tow, leaving the two males to follow her.

Nick and Chip shared a look and quickly followed after the two.

Xander stared on after them, feeling a myriad of emotions. Fear and worry being the two dominant ones so far.

He looked at Madison, hoping that she had some kind of solution to this.

"Don't look at me. I'm the sister with the common sense and self-preservation." Maddie quickly responded to his silent question, as worry began to fill up her insides as well.

"Should we call the police?" He asked, running his hand through his hair, already getting worried for his friends.

Maddie thought about that for a few minutes, then decided against it. For the time being, that is. She'll give Vida the benefit of the doubt, no matter how much her heart was protesting against that notion.

"Let's give them an hour or two. If they're not back by then, we'll call my godfather and my parents." She said, walking towards the store, feeling as if she was making a big mistake which weighed heavily on her chest.

 _'Vida, please be alright. I'm gonna trust you on this one. So, please come back in one piece, sis.'_ She prayed, casting a long glance in the direction her sister went in with the three males.

* * *

 **A/N:** And that will be all for now, you guys. I really hope you liked it so far, 'cuz this was just the beginning! Again, I apologize for any mistakes. I will correct them as soon as I can. If you spot any, let me know what it is and where it is and I'll take care of it.

LOVE YOU GUYS AND SEE YOU SOON! YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO IF YOU LIKED THE STORY!


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